Read All About It
by TheHunterPersian
Summary: A new tabloid publication begins to make the rounds on Mobius spreading gossip about Sonic and his friends. The Chaotix find themselves at the center of a one such rumor that Vector and Espio are dating. So, with the help of their friends, the Chaotix try uncover the truth about the GamNeg publishing company, but what happens if that one rumor seems like it's coming true? Vecpio
1. Chapter 1

**(AN: Well hey everyone! It's been a long while, but I'm back! Boy, writing Vecpio after so long was actually kinda hard. It's gonna take me a while to get back to the groove of things. But hey, here we have a new fic from me!**

 **So, with this fic I wanted to go back into the realm of game canon Vecpio, rather than an AU, much like A Deal or No Deal. However, unlike THAT one, this one plans to be a more lighthearted story, probably not that mature. Along with that, I wanted to explore an aspect of the Chaotix: them being detectives, so Mystery is actually gonna be a theme later on. Thing is, I've never written it... but I'm sure it'll be a nice experiment!**

 **Kinda dunno what to say next, I'll let you guys read for yourself. If you like, be sure to give feedback!)**

* * *

"Hello, is this Ten Ring Land? I have a delivery for you right here."

The manager of the Ten Ring Land in question looked up from his newspaper, confused about this 'delivery'. As far as he knew, his store received all the stock they needed for the day. So why was there a new delivery?...

The obese walrus male manager, getting up from his chair, walked over to the delivery person. What he found off was that this delivery 'person'… wasn't a person, but a robot. Bright red and yet looked very friendly.

"Delivery?" He questioned immediately _._

 _"Yes, your order of the Mobius Examineer magazine."_

"I didn't order such a thing!"

 _"Are you sure? Is says here that you're in our subscription list-"_

"Give me that!" The manager took out the piece of paper the robot held. Sure enough, his store, with the correct address and phone number, was on it.

Fuming mad, he looked around at his employees.

"I never signed up for this! Who is responsible?!"

"All I know is that Mobius Examineer is some new popular magazine?" One person said.

"I think it's just celebrity gossip."

"A tabloid? We already sell every other one of those phony magazines, robot! We have no need for more!"

"We have all the phony tabloid magazines we have, robot! We have no need for yours!"

 _"Oh but you see sir, I do think you may wish to check our publication-"_

"I don't care, cancel my subscription! The subscription I never even applied for!"

 _"I'm sorry sir, but it's our company policy that we can't do such a thing."_

"Company? What company?"

 _"Why, GamNeg Publishing of course!"_

"I've never heard of a company like THAT. Well, here's a message from me: tell this GamNeg whatever that unless they're making me money… I'M. NOT. INTERESTED."

 _"I was just going to get to that! You see, we here at GamNeg believe this publication will be the next big thing, as we plan to gossip- I MEAN, uh… report about Sonic the Hedgehog and his friends!"_

"Sonic the Hedgehog?..."

Now THERE was a new possibility… Sonic was quite loved on Mobius. If this meant something someone could read and give his company sales… Why… it was perfect!

"I'll take it! Is there anything I need to sign? Subscription fee?"

 _"No need to sign, and your first month is free! After that, subscription costs will go for 25 rings per month."_

"Why, you now have me sold! Vira, get me my box cutter!"

The robot left as the manager held the box, wondering what the success of this magazine could mean for his store. As one of the employees went to get the box cutter, the manager grabbed the box and set it down on the register. Opening the box with the cutter, he could see the publication in question, Mobius Examineer. In bold yellow letters was its headline:

 _"Sonic the Hedgehog finally ready to pop the question to Amy Rose?!"_

* * *

 ** _Read All About It_**

 _ **Written by TheHunterPersian**_

* * *

A blue blur shot through the land in a flash, the wind rising by anyone who happened to be near the blur in question. Sure enough, this blur was none other than the hero of Mobius, Sonic the Hedgehog. On this bright day, the hedgehog was heading over to see his best friend, Tails, who claimed that he had something important to show him. It was most likely a new invention, but that didn't mean Sonic wouldn't support his 'little brother'.

Upon reaching the Mystic Ruins, Sonic let himself inside Tails' workshop.

"Yo, Tails! What's up?" Sonic asked upon seeing the fox. "So, what's this important thing you gotta show me? Is it an invention? A Chaos Emerald tracking device update? A chili dog maker?"

"None of that, Sonic. I want you to take a look at this," The fox said as he turned around in his chair. Sonic could notice in his hands a magazine.

"What's that? A tabloid? I didn't know you read these-"

His question was prematurely cut off as he read the article's tagline.

"Sonic the Hedgehog ready to settle down and marry the girl of his dreams?"

"W-wh-what the hey is this?!"

"That's what I've been saying. There's no way this could be real."

"W-who's responsible?! I'd never do such a thing!"

"These guys," Tails flipped the cover to show the publishing company: GamNeg.

"GamNeg? Who are they?"

"Some new publishing company. They're getting really big around Mobius, you can't wander around the streets without seeing SOMEONE reading one."

"That popular? Now I'm curious…."

Taking the magazine, Sonic began to read the contents. It talked about how a reporter took a picture of Sonic at a ring shop, holding some kind of expensive looking wedding ring.

"They have the wrong idea! I was helping the Chaotix with one of their cases! Not preparing myself for marriage!"

"I thought so too when I read the article. Tabloids are known for spewing lies after all. But… the way this one seems to go out, spewing completely random lies for the sake of money. And people are buying into it!"

"Why do you think so?"

"Because we're popular. I mean, when I got this publication, I was questioned VARIOUS times about how much I shed."

"Sh-shedding?"

Tails flipped a couple of pages and stopped in front of an article with a picture of the fox.

" _Miles Tails Prower, older than he looks?_

 _It's no question that Miles 'Tails' Prower, sidekick of Sonic the Hedgehog, is a boy with a youthful yet intelligent mind. But in one of our shocking discoveries, it was discovered that it wasn't the case!_

 _While investing Miles' private workshop, shed hairs could found throughout the entire floor, almost as if Tails didn't clean! Add into how he doesn't clean his hair and his workshop gives him reason for scorn!_

 _When it was analyzed what this fur was, it was discovered this was the fur of none other than Tails himself! For a 8 year old boy, this fox sure has quite a lot of hairs to go!"_

The article shared the various 'low quality' pictures of Tails' "mess".

"Honestly, I could make it messier in 10 minutes, and that's saying something!" Sonic exclaimed, trying to make light with a Tails that felt depressed after a magazine seemingly made fun of his issue with shed hairs (something that has happened since childhood.)

"Hey bud, don't let it get to you," Sonic said, hand on the fox's shoulder. "It's just some stupid tabloid. No one believes that stuff."

* * *

 **A FEW DAYS LATER…**

A crowd of mobians surrounded the magazine stand, talking loudly amongst each other.

"Is that the new issue?"

"Eww, is that REALLY true about Amy Rose?!"

"I knew that girl wasn't right."

As people began to take the publication, its title was in full view of practically anyone who walked by;

 _"Amy Rose not as girly as we thought? Poor and sleeping with… toilet paper?!"_

The picture on the front of the article showed the pink hedgehog in question, sleeping on what seemed like a bed with white sheets.

 _"Amy Rose, the loving girl who claims to be the girlfriend of hero, Sonic the Hedgehog, is known for many things. Her tarot card readings, her love for soft serve ice cream, and most especially, her shopping addiction._

 _With receipts going as far back as last year, many (if not all!) clothing stores have been browsed by none other than Ms. Amy herself, totals coming around to at least over 100 rings! Some of them even as high as 800!_

 _How does this loving girl manage to be concerned more with her image than her welfare?_

 _It's quite simple: she isn't._

 _Our reporters travelled to the home of Amy only to find a shocking sight! Visible by the naked eye, was her bed. You'd think it would be pink with all kinds of stuffed animals on it like any girl her age would have._

 _Instead, it was a dinky little bed with toilet paper for the blanket._

 _"That's the kind of girl Amy Rose is," said one Dr. Eggman, claiming himself to be an acquaintance of Ms. Rose. "Concerning herself more about her image than herself. Honestly, the way she lives, she thinks SHE'LL get Sonic?!"_

* * *

"I'm telling you, that article isn't true!" Amy exclaimed, hoping the constant reporters would get off her back. "Now go away, I'm trying to buy groceries!"

"But ma'am! The article shows photographic evidence! It talks about your addiction to clothing that's so extreme; your blanket is nothing more than toilet paper! Not to mention, the proof of receipts that has YOUR name!"

"So what? What do you want me to do? Prove it to you? Call you shams so you can report that I'm a big meanie next article?"

"Oh, that's actually a good article! Tell us more Amy, what other interests do you have besides your clothing addiction?" One reporter said, getting out his notepad.

"My interests have nothing to do with you, go away!" Amy screamed, bringing out her Piko Piko Hammer. Sure enough, the reporters all went running for the hills. The pink hedgehog sighed, wiping her forehead.

"Man, that always works…"

* * *

 _"Rouge the Bat gaining weight? The not so sexy bat instead shows off her belly fat!"_ was Mobius Examineer's headline just a week after the Amy story.

 _"If one thinks of 'sexy', 'suave', enough to even get the attention of women, look no further than Rouge the Bat. This sexy thief employed by G.U.N. may be one of the organization's most well-known forces, but what happens when 'sexy and slim' gets replaced by 'hee-haw ugly and thick?'_

 _While traveling the beaches of Emerald Coast earlier this week, Rouge was spotted eating various fattening foods from stands. Meats like drumsticks and bacon, sweets of all kinds, even going as far as to have a burger! While normally we're not the ones to judge ones eating habits, the way Rouge is handing it makes her only one thing: a pig._

 _"Rouge is almost always snacking on something," tipped off an anonymous source at G.U.N. "How that girl stays thin, I'll honestly never know. My personal belief? I think she starves herself. Poor thing, she's clearly got issues. But what do I know? I'm just a government official talking smack about one of my employees."_

Like clockwork, the same reporters that bugged Amy were now bugging Rouge after the article was published.

"Is it true that in one weekend, you had not only chicken, but rich steak, fattening potatoes, and other such delicacies-"

"Are you here to shame me about what I eat, or here to ACTUALLY report on something?" Rouge replied crossly.

"No no, Ms. Rouge, the Examineer says so-"

"You'd much rather BELIEVE some stupid tabloid?! That proves the state of reporters nowadays. Go away! G.U.N. has me on a case, and having you reporters bug me isn't going to make things faster. Don't think I haven't seen your article about Amy!"

Rouge flapped her wings, flying away from all the reporters. One of them wrote quickly on their notepad.

 _"Not denying the state of her weight, Rouge flew away, most likely in denial about her unhealthy eating habits. Hopefully this gets her on the track of being the babe she once was."_

* * *

Sure enough, in the coming weeks to almost months, nothing more than scandalous articles were published by the Mobius Examineer. The people of Mobius would go on to read about how Knuckles secretly owned a rap record label and a mansion, Tails was actually an immigrant from somewhere that isn't Mobius, Shadow actually cried and showed emotion, and other such articles. One of the articles, _'Precious Little Rabbit' is actually a cursing devil?!"_ claimed that Cream constantly used curse words to the point that it would put any comedian to shame.

After being followed and harassed by reporters for days to the point it would keep her up at night, afraid to go back to sleep and sometimes even crying, Vanilla reached her snapping point.

"THAT'S ENOUGH!" She screamed in one of the very rare times she showed anger to the reporters at the rabbit's home. Cream held Cheese tightly, a look of worry on her face. "You may feel free to write about me in ANY way possible, but it's another thing to constantly harass my daughter! Leave her alone, or I won't be afraid to get the authorities involved!"

And with that, she slammed the door in the faces of the reporters.

After months of more articles and being shamed by the public (Sonic being shamed in public after having a chili dog just after an article claimed his BMI was in the 'obese' for instance), it seemed that the articles only targeted Sonic's more well-known allies. While there was one article about the Babylon Rogues which claimed they had to work as babysitters because their money was spent on unnecessary junk, it seemed that others could relax about not having an article about them.

"I swear, this is just getting ridiculous!" Sonic said, arms crossed as he and his friends sat around at an outdoor food court. "Everywhere we go, these reporters think they're getting a scoop each time we do anything!"

"It won't be long before they start following us into public restrooms…" Tails groaned, sipping his soda.

"Can't wait for that," Knuckles replied, rolling his eyes.

"But what do we do until then?" Cream asked sadly.

"I feel like we should lay low until this whole Examineer thing dies down. It's clearly looking like to be some kind of fad the people of Mobius have. It'll be like everything else: it stays for a bit, then dies some time later," Amy said.

"If only if that WAS easy," A voice said. Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Amy, and Cream turned to their side to see Rouge flying down next to them.

"Rouge!" Knuckles exclaimed. "What are you doing here?"

"Dealing with the same problem you guys are going through: tabloid reporters," The bat replied.

"You too?! Jeez, the paparazzi must really be THAT bored," Sonic added. "Right, they made an article about you and Shadow right?"

"Shadow's really not taking it good. He actually used Chaos Control on several reporters. Hey, not like it matters, they're annoying me too, so they get what they deserve. I swear, where did this stupid 'Mobius Examineer' come from?"

"It's like it's designed to ruin our lives!" Cream whined.

"Not necessarily, Cream. Celebrity gossip is just… well that. Your article wasn't true, right?"

"Well… no."

"Exactly. Now, I feel like what we should do is not be afraid to step outside, but kinda hang low. Don't reply to any reporters, and hope this all dies out."

"I hope so too, bud."

It didn't.

More articles would get published later on.

However, there was one group that still didn't have an article written about them.

The Chaotix.

For the Chaotix, this was the case… until THAT fateful article…


	2. Chapter 2

**(AN: Hey everyone! It's me again for another chapter of Read All About It! So, thanks for all the feedback guys! Just by posting the first chapter I've gotten a bit of follows and reviews, I never really got this before! I'm glad you're all enjoying the story so far!**

 **So, it's time that we come to the Chaotix and follow the main article that dictates this story!**

 **Before we do that, I wanna bring up something I actually forgot to mention last chapter, and that was the scheduling for this fanfic. You see, unlike before where I had all the time in the world, I'm now in college and working on the weekends (hell if you're reading this the day this goes up I'm at work lol), so my times to write are severely limited. Despite that, I'll still try to write consistently like before. So don't worry! I'm not gonna abandon this fic!**

 **Anyway, time to start!)**

* * *

It was a lazy day at the Chaotix Detective Agency. Not like it meant much, nearly every day was a lazy day for the misfit Detective group. Vector was listening to music in his office, Charmy was most likely playing outside, and Espio was out of the house doing grocery shopping.

Getting bored, Vector turned down his music as he wondered how else he should spend the day. Perhaps he could lift weights? The crocodile WAS slacking on that…

Just then, the phone rang.

"Geez, finally somethin' goin' on!" He exclaimed. Vector picked up the phone, hoping for a new case. "Chaotix Detective Agency, this is Vector. How can we help ya?"

 _"_ _Hi, Vector. It's me, Amy."_

"Amy? Whoa, what's up? I dun think ya ever called,"

 _"_ _Rats,"_ Vector thought, slouching in his chair. At least he'd found a new way to pass the time.

 _"_ _Nothing much… but uh, listen. I kinda have some important news."_

"Sonic and yeh are finally gettin' married?"

 _"Not you too- Oh, I mean_ _I WISH. No no, it's something different. Vector, have you heard of the Mobius Examineer?"_

"The heck's that?"

 _"_ _Some tabloid publication, anyway, have you seen their latest issue?"_

"I dun read the tabloids, all full of gossip no one will remember in like a month anyway. Why?"

 _"_ _It's… uh… it's about you and Espio."_

"Me 'n Esp? Uhh, what's it say?"

 _"_ _It says-"_

Before she could finish, Vector could hear on the other line, _"Ms. Rose! Do you have a minute?! Tell us more about your poor living conditions thanks to your crippling money spending habits!"_

 _"_ _AUGH! GO AWAY! I TOLD YOU THIS BEFORE!"_ Amy screamed. _"Sorry Vector, I'll tell you later. Right now, I have some THINGS to take care of…."_

With that, the pink hedgehog hung up. Vector simply looked at the receiver.

"I always knew that gal was a strange one…"

Hanging up the phone, it felt like everyone in Vector's life came charging towards him, as in that moment, the front door opened and Charmy's voice boomed.

"VECTOOOOOOOORRRR!" He yelled. "Come look at this!"

"Charmy! Didn't Espio and I tell yeh, 'inside voice'?!" The green reptile scolded.

"Sorry, Vector… just, look at this! I found it while at the dollar store!" The bee said, holding out a publication.

"A tabloid? That's the second time someone brought it up. Still, ya read this? And aren't yeh a little too young to understand what they're talkin' 'bout?"

"Doesn't mean I can't look at the pretty pictures…" Charmy's face and antennae fell. "Still, it's about you and Espio!"

"So this is the thing Amy mentioned? She just called me 'bout it."

"I guess. What does 'comes out' mean?"

"What?!"

Vector quickly took the publication from Charmy's hands, put on the reading glasses that sat on his desk, and looked at the magazine in front of him. Sure enough, in big yellow letters read:

 _"_ _VECTOR AND ESPIO… IN LOVE?!"_

Just below it, there was more text.

 _"_ _Holding hands in public… official records that state them having a son… occasionally sleeping in the same bed… The truth 'comes out' for these two detectives!"_

Vector couldn't believe it. Were… were they really implying?

Quickly ignoring the other parts of the tabloid, Vector turned to the article about him and Espio and began to read.

 _"_ _The Chaotix Detective Agency. While not popular, they're known for bringing trouble wherever they go. Headed by Vector the Crocodile, this trio of detectives is known for solving the mysteries they're assigned, and helping out those in need._

 _But could the Chaotix be hiding one mystery themselves?_

 _Thankfully, we here are the Mobius Examineer have uncovered the mystery, and we believe it to be the biggest out of all the stories we've covered._

 _Could Vector the Crocodile and Espio the Chameleon be in a secret relationship?_

 _Many would scoff at the idea; after all, Mr. Vector has shown feelings towards the mother of Cream the Rabbit, Vanilla. And as for Espio, many question if he even has a love life period._

 _But new facts discovered may contradict this…_

 _Last week, as pictured above, the Chaotix were seen at an ice cream stand. One thing you'll notice about the picture? Vector and Espio were seen holding hands, and they didn't stop until forty minutes later._

 _We may suspect that you might be a little more curious, or simply think of this as a contradiction. This isn't the case however, more info provided by one of our journalists have shown possibly one of the biggest cases of evidence regarding this claim. Digging through the files for the custody of children on Mobius, this journalist has found that Charmy Bee, the youngest member of the Chaotix, is in the name of BOTH Vector and Espio, not just one or the other._

 _Thanks to anonymous tips, we have even more reasons to suspect this reptilian couple may be hidden in the closet. According to sources, the two commonly sleep together during the winter time, and Vector has been recorded making what sounds like advances towards the chameleon._

 _The cherry on top however? Going undercover, another journalist was able to interview Sonic the Hedgehog about the Chaotix. What did this blue hedgehog have to say?_

 _"_ _Vector and Espio? Ha ha, yeah, they're kinda inseparable. Honestly, I'd even go as far to say that Vector is probably the person Espio trusts the most. Like, sure he can get pissed at him but by the end of the day, they're still friends. Honestly, when I think to their dynamic, sometimes I even think they're… wait, I dunno… I don't think they'd like me saying that. Forget I said anything."_

 _There you have it. Now, all we need to ask Mr. Vector and Espio is: when is time to stop hiding your true selves and come out to proclaim your love?"_

Vector couldn't believe it. There was so much wrong with this article, he didn't know where to begin. He set the article down and rubbed his temples.

"Vector… are you mad at me for showing you that?"

"I'm not mad… just…"

Right on cue, there was a knock at the door.

"Is Espio back?" questioned Charmy.

"Naw… I dun think that's Espio…" Vector said, getting up. He slowly walked towards the front door, only wondering who could be at the door. Opening the door, he saw it was some kind of ram.

"Hello… is this the Chaotix Detective Agency?" he asked.

"Yeah, can we help you?"

"Oh thank goodness! I've been looking for you guys all day!"

Vector's annoyance turned into happiness. Finally, a case to help him get his mind off that stupid article!

"…I was wondering if I could ask some questions regarding this week's publication of the Mobius Examineer. Are you and Espio really-"

The crocodile slammed the door on the reporter's face.

"Vector! You just slammed the door on his face!"

"Because he wasted mah time. Now, I want yeh to listen well, Charmy. If ANY of these guys try to bug yeh, IGNORE 'EM. If we're around, yell for me and Espio."

"Is something wrong with them?"

"They're bad people. Okay? Now I don't want yeh to ask any more questions, just do what we say."

"Oh… okay…"

Charmy's face fell.

"Vector, I'm scared… are they really that bad?"

The reptile sighed; he figured talking like that would only scare the bee even more.

"I'm sorry fer actin' all rash, I didn't mean to scare yeh. Look, I just want yeh to be safe."

Charmy shook his head. Just then, the window opened by itself. The two Chaotix members felt a chill by their spine until they saw Espio's outline.

"Espio? Why the heck yeh sneakin' through the window?" Vector asked.

"Vector, do you know what's going on?!"

"I'm guessin' it's about the Mobius Examineer, no?"

"You-you know about that too?"

"Amy and Charmy informed me."

"Well, I guess information spreads fast. Chaos, I was trying to grocery shop when I notice that insolent magazine on the counter. Then when I actually try to read it, all these people come rushing towards me asking if the article was true. I tell you, what happened to common intelligence? They'd much rather have some gossip magazine tell everything to them?"

"That's how things just work here, not like there's much to report on other than the occasional Eggman attack."

"Vector, get serious. Whoever is publishing those articles is simply out to destroy our image."

"I mean, I dunno… I think the whole couple with the kid thing could work. Some people are suckers for that kind of stuff."

"Oh yes, tell that to some of our _loving_ politicians and the occasional religious nut that comes to our door every Thursday."

"Alright, alright. I see yer point. Besides, I dun even see yeh that way. We'll get to the bottom of this. We never turn down work after all!"

"Wasn't that, "We never turn down work that pays"? We're not really getting paid for this," Charmy said. Vector froze.

"R-right…"

* * *

The Chaotix sat around their dining table, ignoring the crowd of people saying: "YOU'RE SO CUTE!", "BURN WITH THE DEMONS YOU FRUITS!", or "IS IT TRUE THAT YOU AND VECTOR HAVE A ROOM THAT YOU TWO SHARE, MR. ESPIO?!".

"Okay, so… what do we know 'bout this publication?" Vector asked.

"It's published by a company called GamNeg… it's called the Mobius Examineer… it's a tabloid… and that's it really," Espio replied.

"There's not really much mysterious about it, Vector," Charmy said. "I mean, it's just a stupid magazine."

"Yeh guys aren't really seeing the whole picture. There's somethin' up with this magazine, I just know it," Vector shook his head.

"Okay, what's your theory then?" Espio asked.

"Well, let's take this into consideration. Most gossip magazines yeh see are about all kinds of celebrities, right?"

"How would I know? I don't read such time wasters."

"Still, yeh'd imagine it to?"

"I guess?"

"But after reading through the publication Charmy gave me… I noticed that it's only featuring Sonic and the rest of our friends!"

This caused the other Chaotix members to open their eyes. "So what you're saying is that this publication is meant to spread gossip about all of us?"

"Exactly!"

"But do we have proof of that?" Charmy asked.

"That's where our investigation comes in! We're gonna need to find Sonic and the gang and ask them about their articles."

"How is that going to help us out?" Espio asked.

"It might get us more clues about the Examineer's publishers and it's so called 'journalists'."

"Do you really think we'll be able to come to a conclusion with all of this? I don't think we can see a definite conclusion with what little information we have."

"I dunno, but… we're gonna find out! Let's go guys."

As the Chaotix got out of their seats, they headed for the door.

"Now… about this crowd," Vector said.

"Charmy, remember what we told you to do when you see a stranger?" Espio added.

"Run for it?"

"Precisely. Only this time, follow after us."

The three bolted it out the door; Espio making sure the door was shut and locked before quickly catching up with his teammates. The crowd was left behind, journalists scrambling to write in their notepads for their next story while everyone else left.


	3. Chapter 3

**(AN: Welcome back for more Read All About It! I think now I'm starting to get the hang of things, so writing should be a bit easier! I'm glad I was able to get this out before the weekend, lemme tell you.**

 **I don't have much to say; Forces still hasn't come out yet so yeah. Just enjoy this chapter)  
**

* * *

 _"Day one of our investigation: already we've been stopped by reporters asking us about this story. It may be our first day, but I dunno how long we can last doing this-"_

"Charmy, will you stop doing that ridiculous voice and let us focus?" Espio asked. "We need to find our friends, and we need your help too."

"Aww man, taking the fun outta everything…" Charmy grumbled. "We looked around and still can't find them! Besides, why are we making such a big deal outta this stupid thing anyway? You said it yourself, Vector! No one's gonna remember what those taboid things are gonna say!"

"It's a tabloid, Charmy," Vector corrected. "And second, while I would like to believe that, people are gullible. They're gonna believe it, and the story about me and Espio isn't true."

"So I'm NOT in both of your names?"

The two reptiles went silent.

"I mean yes you are, but that doesn't mean we're a couple!" Espio said.

"I don't know that!"

"Oh don't tell me yer fallin' fer it too!" Vector complained.

"All I'm saying is that you two always told me that as a detective, I should come up with every plausible theory," Charmy crossed his arms.

"I swear, we shouldn't have neglected Charmy that one weekend where he watched too many romantic comedies," Vector whispered to Espio.

"Enough of that for now, isn't that Tails?" Espio said, tugging the crocodile's arm.

"Hey, yeah, yer right! Let's get to him before someone starts buggin' him too!"

The two reptiles ran towards the fox, Charmy not aware they left until he looked at their direction.

"HEY! Wait up you guys!"

When the Chaotix spotted Tails, they could tell he looked paranoid. Hoping not to scare him, they walked in front of him.

"Tails! Pal! Ol' buddy! What's goin' down?" Vector said.

"O-Oh! Oh, it's you guys… thank goodness…" He said.

"What's wrong?" Charmy tilted his head.

"The Mobius Examineer."

"They got to you too?" Espio questioned.

"I was one of the firsts. Geez, this thing will never let go, will it?"

"Well, I'm sure yeh wanna see this mystery solved, huh?" Vector asked.

"Well… yeah. I can't find much about this tabloid online, and I can't get much info anywhere else before someone starts to bug me."

"Yer in luck! We've decided to start an investigation on that Mobius Examineer!"

"We did?" Charmy asked.

"Solving the mystery behind this GamNeg publishing company and the Mobius Examineer? Well, count me in!"

"Before we can get any leads, we're gonna need to ask yeh some questions. Think we can find somewhere to sit?"

"Me and Sonic have a regular place, let's go there!"

* * *

The Chaotix and Tails sat around a metal table, a food truck whirring right near them. Charmy was snacking on some fries while Tails had a small milkshake.

"So, tell us everythin' yeh know about this Mobius Examineer from the beginning," Vector asked.

"Well… it all started a few weeks ago. I was in town getting supplies for my workshop when I noticed this tabloid. Normally, I don't pay attention to those magazines. I feel like my intelligence gets tested every time I see one. The thing that caught my eye about THIS one was that the front cover was apparently claiming that Sonic was ready to marry Amy. As soon as I saw this, I bought it and called up Sonic to come take a look at it," Tails explained.

"And how did he take it?" Espio asked.

"Well, I dunno. It's claiming Sonic wants to marry Amy, you tell me."

"I see, then what next?" Vector asked.

"Well, I kinda did know about this tabloid beforehand. It was kind of making the rounds before, it just gossiped about celebrities. But now it was taking a jab at Sonic. So, I decided to try to find more about the publisher, GamNeg."

"And?"

"Despite them having an official website with an online version of the magazine… there's nothing. There's no list of the staff, the location of the company itself, nothing."

"None of that?!"

"Yeah. I found that so weird."

"Hmm… no staff… company's HQ is unknown… we got our first two clues…"

"But then who's writing and publishing the magazine?" Espio questioned.

"If I may, Espio, I think this might have something to do with an underground source."

"You mean this is illegal?"

"I mean, think about it: no list of its staff, no way to contact the company. No other company could get away with that."

"You're right…"

Just then, Charmy put his hand on his stomach.

"I'm still kinda hungry. Can I have an extra dollar?" He said.

"No, you'll spoil your dinner," Espio said.

"Wait, actually I think I might have some change in my pocket! Do you guys want anything?"

"No you will not!-"

"Get me a pack of gum."

"Vector!"

"Okay!" Charmy got off his seat and buzzed over to the food truck.

"Hey, don't go by yourself!" Vector called, running after Charmy.

"And he forgot to pick up his trash…" Espio mulled.

As the crocodile accompanied the bee, someone yelled.

"Hey guys look! It's the Chaotix couple!"

Espio's scales grew red. This was NOT how he wanted to be recognized in public! Vector on the other hand, tried to ignore the person.

"I mean look, he's accompanying their son to the food truck. How sweet!"

The two reptiles got embarrassed as Espio quickly got up to throw away Charmy's trash and Vector went to return to his seat. Just then, as the two crossed paths, Vector stumbled due to speed walking. Espio tumbled right after him, the crocodile and chameleon lying right next to each other.

"Before ya say anythin' Espio, I never planned this, alright?"

"Duly noted..."

* * *

After escaping the embarrassing situation and more people realizing the two had pretty much 'confirmed' the Examineer's claims, Vector decided it was time to look over the current clues.

"Okay, so yeh heard what Tails said," Vector said.

"Of course. The staff is unknown, and the whereabouts of the company is unknown as well. It's so odd; I've never seen a case like this before…" Espio reviewed.

"Hey! Enough of that for now!" Charmy interrupted. "What was that one guy back at the food truck talking about 'their son'?"

The two reptiles turned blue in the face. They surely didn't expect him to ask THAT.

"Nothing, Charmy. Just people believing gossip, what did I tell yeh 'bout it?"

"Oh… okay."

"Vector… let's get this clear right now. We AREN'T bringing that up again, understand?"

The crocodile nodded.

…

But something at the back of his head nagged him.

He wanted to talk to Espio about what happened. His detective instinct questioned if the chameleon planned this-

That was silly. He knew for a fact Espio had no care for romance. In fact, he almost seemed uncomfortable with the idea. Why would he try something like that?

He recalled an incident where the Chaotix came home after chatting with Vanilla.

 _"I don't know how the common person falls in love. There's no such thing as living a life with someone. We all have our bouts of loneliness too, something that another person can't fix…"_ Espio said.

 _"Yeah, see? Espio would have no reason to do somethin' like that. Geez, Vec, can yeh say paranoid?"_

"So, what now? We need to find someone else," Charmy said.

"You're right, Charmy. Do you remember what Tails said? They ran their first publication on Sonic and Amy. Maybe we could find the two," said Espio.

"Yeah, after all, they're not the only ones with couple problems!" Vector joked. He was still when he saw Espio and Charmy just staring at him.

 _"This is why, sometimes Vector, you need to SHUT. YOUR. MOUTH."_

* * *

It wasn't hard to find Sonic. The blue hedgehog was found wearing… heavy winter clothes despite it being the summer. He was eating some kind of frozen yogurt.

"Sonic! How's it goin, bud?" Vector said.

"S-Sonic? No-no, I'm not Sonic! I don't know a Sonic, h-hah hah-"

"Sonic, do you actually think you'll fool someone with that silly disguise," Espio said, arms crossed.

"Oh, thank Chaos. Now I can stop eating this slime. I tell you, it can be good but nothing beats a good, old fashioned chili dog," Sonic took off his disguise, which surprisingly, garnered very little attention from the people around them. "So what's up?"

"We're doin' an investigation on the Mobius Examineer," Vector said.

"Oh, PLEASE don't bring that up! I swear, every single one of those reporters are out to get me!" Sonic was clearly freaking out, though… he normally never acted like this. Just what kind of tests of sanity did these reporters put him through?

 _"Reporters…?"_ Vector thought.

"Wait a minute! That contradicts Tails' claim!"

"Tails' what?"

"Tails said he tried to look more into GamNeg but couldn't find anythin' 'bout it's staff! Yet yer sayin' they have plenty of reporters!"

"What does this mean?" Espio questioned.

"They DO have reporters… someone's concealing their identity…"

"But who could do that?" asked Charmy.

"Does anyone know the CEO of GamNeg?"

There was a silence in the air before the four realized this faster than anything else.

Just who WAS in charge of the GamNeg publishing company?

At that moment, a reporter spotted Sonic and ran over to him.

"Sonic, Sonic! Thanks for being interviewed about the Vector and Espio article! The mass loved it!"

The hedgehog rubbed his temples. This was the 6th reporter to come to him today.

Unless…

"Before I answer whatever question you have for me, I'll need you to make a promise for me."

"And I can get any answer to my endless barrage of questions?"

"Sure. Now tell me, _who's your CEO?_ "

The reporter stopped. He stood up straight, dropping his notepad and pencil.

"T-That… that's confidential! N-no! I mu-mu-must not tell! No… no no no no no no no nonononononONONONONONONONONO!" The reporter ran away, stumbling on his way.

"What the heck?!" Vector said, raising an eyebrow.

"Did you see the way he reacted?" Charmy said. "That was really fishy!"

"Sonic, I need you to do somethin'. Get everyone we know who got featured in that stupid tabloid, and get them over here."

* * *

 **SOME TIME LATER**

The Chaotix sat around with their friends, discussing the ordeal to everyone.

"So it's official, our investigation on the GamNeg publishing company begins today!" said Vector.

"We're still missing a lot of evidence, but if we want to stop this magazine spreading lies about it, we'll all need your help," added Espio. Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Amy, Cream, and Rouge nodded their heads. Shadow simply did nothing.

"What's the first order, 'sir'?" questioned Rouge.

"First order of business, we gotta find out more about these reporters. We're gonna need to bait them," Vector replied.

"I've been trying to avoid them though!" Amy whined.

"Vector and I thought this was the only way. Should our theory be correct, then the reporters may not be alive," said Espio.

"I still think that idea is farfetched. Getting into the field of journalism isn't as easy as it seems," replied Tails.

"Remember, we have to use whatever methods we can use. We'll meet tomorrow at this place."

"Consider it our 'secret headquarters'," Vector winked. "So, remember: if someone questions yeh, ask them about their CEO. We'll talk about our discoveries tomorrow."

"So away we go, Investigation Team!" Charmy raised a fist in the air.

"Is that our name now?" Knuckles asked.

"Yup!"

"What a stupid name…" brooded Shadow.

Vector grinned; it was another mystery to solve. Whoever the person behind the Mobian Examineer was, they would be sorry they wrote about them!

And yet, he looked at Espio, talking amongst their friends.

 _"Espio… I hope we can talk about that article alone sometime…"_ he thought.


	4. Chapter 4

**(AN: Hello everyone! Well, it's time for a new chapter! I was actually meaning to get this out yesterday, but because I was tired from work Saturday, I forgot to write. Sorry guys! I hope this makes up for it!)**

* * *

 **THAT NIGHT**

It seemed to be at night that the Examineer reporters would finally calm down. Vector found this to be a sigh of relief. What would have happened if they had found he sleeps nude?

…then again, isn't he and the rest of his male friends always like that?

He could hear Espio's footsteps from outside the hall. The chameleon most likely had a cup of tea in hand to drink before bed.

 _"I could ask him but… is now the appropriate time?"_ Vector mulled.

The door to Espio's room shut.

 _"Screw it."_

Getting up from his bed, Vector left his room and made his way towards the purple reptile's room.

"Espio? Ya gettin' ready for bed? I wanted to talk," The crocodile said, knocking on the door. After a few seconds, Espio opened the door.

"I WAS… but I guess I can hear you out for a bit. Don't keep me awake or wake up Charmy though."

"Always the mature one, even in times like this."

"Don't get me wrong, that article wants me to commit seppuku, but I shall stay strong to get to the bottom of this and find out who's writing that nonsense."

Vector closed the door behind him, now worrying how Espio would feel now that he's said something like THAT.

"Err… that's the thing. I wanted to talk about the article. Just me 'n yeh."

Espio looked up. "Just us two? Is there something about it?"

"Well… how do I put this… I know the article isn't real. But… yeh know, yeh don't really get yer feelin's out there."

"W-what are you saying?!" Even in the moonlight, he could see Espio's scales turn red.

"I mean… gah, how can I really word this? If you ever have feelin's, yeh can just tell me. It's fine."

"Are you implying I have romantic feelings for someone?!"

 _"Dang, got on his bad side…"_

"Y-yeah… I think I made things awkward… Uh… Imma just head to bed… night."

Espio sighed. "Good night…"

As the crocodile left the room, he wanted to slap himself silly.

 _"Why in the name of CHAOS would you ever question Espio about that?!"_ He screamed mentally. _"Jeez, Vec, yeh may be the Chaotix leader but yeh can sure be dense sometimes. Whatever, I'm goin' to bed…"_

* * *

In his bedroom, Espio couldn't help but feel a pit in his stomach. Did he really have romantic feelings for anyone? And if that article is to say anything, could it really be someone like Vector?

* * *

 **THE NEXT DAY**

The "Investigation Team" sat at their usual place, discussing more about the Examineer.

"Hey, where's Shadow and Rouge?" Amy asked.

"They said they'd be late. Said they were dealing with something important. I hope it's a G.U.N. related thing. Can you imagine if Rouge was stealing jewels and Shadow was merely tagging along?" Tails sighed.

 _"Or maybe it's finding a key person about our little case, fox boy?"_

Everyone was startled. It was no doubt the voice of Rouge, but where was she?

In a flash, Rouge flew down next to the table, Shadow by her side and a person the group had never seen before.

"Thanks fer joinin' us. The heck's that?" Vector asked.

"This is apparently, one of the so called 'reporters' for the Examineer. We're going to question him about the company he works for, and we're making sure he DOES comply," Rouge replied.

"I-I can't! It's against company policy!" The reporter, a red dove, whined.

"Well I'm sure they won't care since they won't find out, right?"

The dove whimpered as he was sat down by Shadow.

"Alright, start talking. When were you employed by the Examineer?" Shadow questioned.

"I won't tell!-"

"Hmm… won't talk? Well, how about we try a _NEW w_ ay of making you talk. Cream, do you mind if we can use your water bottle? I promise to buy you a new one," Rouge said.

The rabbit at first didn't want to share, but… she WAS a part of the Investigation Team.

"Anything for the cause…" She told herself. The girl handed the bat the water, who in turn forcibly poured it on the man's hand. He screamed loudly, clearly not enjoying it.

"Guys, you know we're basically torturing someone in public right," Amy flatly said.

"I know that! He asked for it, not me!" Rouge shot back.

"OKAY OKAY! I WAS HIRED THE DAY IT STARTED!" The dove yelled.

"The day the Examineer began?" Espio questioned.

"It hasn't been around for that long, so it makes sense," Tails added. "Okay, now, we need to know now. Who's the one behind the company? Is there a CEO?"

The dove was gasping for breath at this point. He freaked out as soon as he saw Rouge tipping over the bottle.

"ALRIGHT! I'LL KEEP TALKING! JUST DON'T POUR ANYMOREEEEEE!"

"Is it wrong to kinda feel bad for him?" Charmy asked.

"Nah, I'm enjoying this," Knuckles replied.

"Glad to see you're complying. Now answer Tails' question," Rouge said, giving the bottle back to Cream.

"Alright… yes, there is a CEO… I won't lie though, I don't know his name," The reporter said.

"What?!" The group said.

"How can you be a part of a company and NOT know your boss' name?!" Rouge questioned.

"I think you're lying," Shadow said, brow lowering.

"I'm not lying! I don't know his name!"

"Then how were you employed?"

"I… that's… private information! It's… company polic-"

"Shut up about that!" Knuckles yelled. "Answer the question!"

"That… I… you'll never know! He'll come after you!"

The dove ran away, and within an instinct, Shadow kicked him and Rouge took the bottle of water again and poured it all over him. The dove only screamed for a second before going silent and then… exploding.

At this point, everyone who hadn't run away from the food court was now running away. The group looked at the pile of wires and metal parts on the ground.

"Whoa… you were right, Espio. They're not alive," Sonic said.

"Robotic reporters?" Vector said to himself. "Could it be Eggman?"

This got the group riled up.

"Eggman! Of course! He must be behind this!" Tails exclaimed.

"Wait. How do we know for sure?" asked Espio.

"Wh-what do you mean 'how do we know for sure'?!" Rouge replied.

"Think: Eggman never once created a robot that looks scarily like you and me. Metal Sonic doesn't count, you can tell he's not Sonic by the way he looks. But the way the reporter looked, you would never be able to tell he was a robot."

"Doesn't Eggman have his little insignia on all his robots? The only way to prove it is if we find it," Vector said.

"Ooh! I'll go find it!" Charmy exclaimed.

"No yeh aren't, yeh might get electrocuted. Lemme handle this."

Vector walked over to the robot and looked around the casing of the robot. The outer shell didn't carry and kind of insignia…

"Nothin' so far. I dun think we can open it up, so Tails, mind if yeh take a look at this thing?"

"No problem. If there's no Eggman logo, then I think we can rule him out."

"But this depends know… does Eggman even KNOW about the Examineer? What if he's getting a laugh out of it," Amy said in a worried tone.

"Well, why don't we ask the doctor himself?" Shadow suggested.

"Oh sure, let's just bust into Eggman's base and be like 'Hey, do you read this tabloid?'" Knuckles replied.

"Red, don't you know that G.U.N. calls me a fantastic thief for a reason?" Rouge said. "I'll talk to the man. In fact, I'll even do it right now."

Rouge flapped her wings and flew off, leaving the group behind.

"I'll take this back to my place now," Tails said. "I think our little investigation is done for the day. Remember, if Rouge can't pinpoint Eggman, then our suspect is someone else."

"Dismissed!" Vector yelled.

* * *

 **THAT NIGHT**

"What… what is it about this article that bugs me?"

Vector kept looking at the headline: _"VECTOR AND ESPIO… IN LOVE?!"_

He reread the article over and over again. Not just for any clues behind GamNeg, but also about the specific 'thing' bugging him about the article.

"Is it the way it's worded? Is it the subject matter?"

Vector adjusted his reading glasses. The lamp on his desk was starting to dim.

"…I should go to bed."

He yawned, and then looked at the tabloid yet again, the headline burning into him for some reason.

 ** _"VECTOR AND ESPIO… IN LOVE?!"_**


	5. Chapter 5

**(AN: Hey guys! I know I'm late, but here we are with another chapter!**

 **Now... as for my lateness... ugh, I'm sorry guys but college has really been sucking my happiness and motivation. I've been overworked this week to the point that it's just frustrating me so much. I'm really not happy with school anymore basically lol.**

 **But hey, this isn't my venting journal.**

 **I'm still really glad you guys are liking the fic. Honestly, I think you guys are the reason I still strive to make consistent updates, so thanks :)**

 **Much like a chapter or two ago, when I'm posting this, I'll probably be at work, so I guess it's good I got this out when I could? Oh well, enjoy!)**

* * *

"What's taking Rouge so long?" Sonic complained, tapping his fingers on the table.

"I know right, she said she'd be here half an hour ago. Where's the broad?!" Vector added to the complaint pile.

"That "broad" is giving you the answers we need to solve this little mystery," A sly voice replied. The Investigation Team looked above them to see Rouge flying down, holding some kind of audio device.

"O-Oh… I mean, we… by all means we didn't mean-"

"Save it for another time, Vector. We have more important things to discuss."

"Like, what did Eggman say?" Amy asked.

"Right. He was actually calm and replied to me truthfully, maybe because of our past."

"You expect me to believe that? I want proof that Egghead didn't shoot hundreds of missiles at you!"

"Very well then. Good thing I made this."

Rouge pressed the button on the device as the speakers cackled.

 _"This is Rouge with the interrogation of Dr. Eggman over the truth of GamNeg publishing. Now, **doctor** , just remember that this ENTIRE conversation is being recorded. Should you be lying…"_

 _"I won't! I'll say the truth and nothing but the truth!"_ Dr. Eggman replied.

"He's not gonna," Tails commented as Knuckles shushed him.

 _"Do you know anything at all about the GamNeg publishing company?"_

 _"Of course not! I don't pay attention to those phony tabloids! They're just full of lies that people will forget until the next big celebrity scandal comes around."_

 _"Are you sure? Wouldn't it be surprising if YOU made a company to talk about us?"_

 _"Why would I! I don't need to resort to being sneaky and unknown to try and destroy you. Look at my robots, they're invincible to kill! I'm a man of actions! Not words!"_

 _"I'm not here to pick a fight, so I'm asking one last thing: Show me security monitors of EVERY base."_

 _"Every base?! Then we'll be here all day!"_

 _"Are you denying that you have such a thing?"_

" _Of course not!"_

 _"Then show me proof that you are not the one behind GamNeg."_

A button was heard from the speakers the audio got silent. It wasn't until five minutes later that a response was heard.

 _"Very well, doctor. You have proven that you are not the culprit at hand. With that, I'm on my way."_

"…and with the audio ending, that's how I'm here."

"So, no footage of any base with printing materials, no extra workers, and I checked the robot last night. No sign of any Eggman insignia anywhere. Whoever is producing the Examineer expects us to frame Eggman while they walk around with money up the wazoo," Tails said.

Just then, someone came running towards them.

"Letter for Vector the Crocodile!" A cheery voice said. The group looked to their right to see some kind of lizard coming their way.

"I have a letter for a Mr. Vector! It's from GamNeg publishing!"

The group stood up in their chair. "F-from GamNeg themselves?!"

"The CEO said this was urgent. I can't reveal much, company policy! Thanks for your services!"

The lizard disappeared as the crocodile opened the letter. It in, there was only a sheet of paper.

 _"Stop trYiNG to finD the TRuth Of our company If yoU KNOW WhAT's gOOd fOR You. tHe MORE yOU snOop, thE wOrse The ArticlEs Will Get."_

Everyone simply looked at the note.

"The worse the articles get?! They want us to shut up in exchange for better articles? They're already writing about us!" Knuckles exclaimed.

"But… how could they have found out? There's no way he'd know about our group," Espio said.

"I think we're being followed," Shadow suggested.

"Huh? Followed?" Vector asked.

"It cannot be coincidence that GamNeg's CEO now knows our attempts to dismantle the company. Someone must have tipped them off by following our every move."

The ultimate lifeform turned his head to a bush.

"S-someone's there?!" Charmy yelped.

"If my theory is true and someone is in this bush, then we are being followed."

"Are… are we really being blackmailed over something like this?!" Vector exclaimed. "I swear, what's this guy got with us?"

Shadow reached his hand into the bush and dragged out a motionless robot.

"What the?!"

"It's deactivated! But why would one-"

The team's questions were answered when they saw a notepad in hand.

"What's going on anymore?!" Amy questioned. "Robotic reporters, Eggman not being the one behind it…"

The head of the robot turned his head as quick as possible to face the team. Cream jumped and yelped, shaking as she clung to Amy's leg.

 _"It seems you won't get my message. Very well, all of Mobius will know of the scandals we write about,"_ The robot said.

"Something's off… that voice sounds organic!" Sonic noted.

 _"Very well noted, Sonic the Hedgehog. I'd enjoy your last few days before so many scandals come your way, no TV show would EVER want to feature you."_

"Who are you first of all?!" Espio questioned. "And what is your motivation?!"

 _"…I am the GamNeg CEO… my motivation? To see you all suffer…"_

The robot deactivated once more as Shadow, in a fit of anger, crushed the robot's head.

"Damn him! Thinking he can control our lives because he writes some popular magazine that people are too stupid to realize isn't true!"

"Unfortunately, that's the way people work. They believe anything up front without proof. That's why I asked Eggman for proof he wasn't GamNeg's CEO," Rouge replied, walking over to Shadow.

"But didn't you hear his voice? That sounded nothing like Eggman," said Knuckles.

"I still suspect him. He could have been using a voice changer," Tails replied.

"Mr. Eggman wouldn't be able to sound like that," Cream said. "It is someone else…"

Charmy was frowning. "I'm scared… what did that CEO mean by he was gonna put is in so many scandals?"

"It means he's trying to make up stuff we didn't do just for readers. Tabloids do it all the time," Vector replied. He turned to face everyone to address them. "This means that we have a new goal: find out who this CEO really is."

"Well, where do you suppose we start?" questioned Amy.

"How's 'bout we beat them at their own game?" He suggested. Everyone was silent.

"I don't follow," Knuckles replied.

"Well, they don't want us messin' with them, right? Yet they're the ones stalkin' us. How's 'bout we return the favor?"

"I think Vector means that we spy on the reporters too! Should we do that, we might find a lead," Tails said.

"How about we split into teams? If we all went spying at the same time, we'll get caught for sure," Amy said.

"Good idea. I think I'll go with Charmy, since we can both fly."

"Oh yay! I get to be with Tails!" Charmy exclaimed, buzzing around.

"Well Espio, I think it's up to yeh and me," Vector said, looking at his partner.

"Very much indeed. You're the leader, I follow," Espio nodded, eyes shut.

* * *

After splitting up, the two reptiles were able to pinpoint a reporter and followed him around. Currently, the two were hidden behind a tree.

"So Vector?"

"Yeah?"

"Remember when I said I follow you?"

"Yeah?"

"Yes… um… I don't think I have to be on your back for this."

Vector shook his head. "Hey, I wanna be a part of your Chroma Camo. Someone would notice big ol' me!"

Espio rolled his eyes. His arms were getting a bit tired from being wrapped around Vector. Still, if it weren't for the spikes on his back, the crocodile would have made a very comfy pillow.

And… not like he was sniffing intensely, but he could smell Vector's scent… It was a rather soothing smell, meaning he must have worn the cologne he bought the reptile for his birthday.

 _"Wait what,"_ Espio told himself mentally. He was suddenly being shaken by Vector.

"Esp! Stop bein' in la la land! Here comes an Examineer reporter!"

The two invisible reptiles watched as a reporter, face obstructed by large clothes, walked and stood still. He looked around, seeming like he wanted no one around.

Before Vector could make a comment, he suddenly threw off all his clothes, revealing nothing more than a bare endoskeleton. The two reptiles were shocked at first, but their shock only increased when the notepad every reporter seemed to hold was then shoved through some kind of slot in the skeleton.

Only seconds later, a print copy of the Mobius Examineer was made.

"Wh-what the?!..." Vector questioned. "That's how they're mass producing this?!"

"I don't know whether to be surprised at how much thought had to be put into these designs, or be incredibly sickened…" Espio added.

And for seconds on end, the endoskeleton kept printing copies.

"We should stop it!"

"Yer right, Espio! Let's do it!"

Getting off of Vector, the chameleon immediately threw a kunai into the endoskeleton. It sparked, taking a step back before Vector kicked it right in the stomach.

 _"Y-Yo..u…."_

"Yer right this is us. Tell yer little CEO that if they wanna keep messin' with us, they're gonna have to answer to us!"

"Speaking of your CEO, who is he?!" Espio questioned.

 _"F…ools… How foolish can foolish fools such as your foolish selves be?"_

"Enough! Tell us!"

 _"I refuse… company-"_

"Say stuff 'bout this company policy, I'll send ya to yer CEO as nothin' but wires and bolts!" Vector threatened, grabbing the endoskeleton and holding him in the air.

" _…Fore…tune…"_

Then the endoskeleton deactivated. All the copies of the Examineer that were supposed to be printed out fell out of the slot, nothing more than blank sheets.

"What was he planning to print?" Vector asked. Espio walked over to the pile of printed magazines, taking one.

"'Vector confirms it! The exciting new details about his spicy relationship to Espio-' It's another article about us!"

"Why are they so passionate about us?! Jeez, I know I'm handsome but-"

"I mean I can kind of get behind it-"

"Wait. Espio… did you just imply I was handsome?"

Realizing what he had just said, Espio got red in the face.

"I… I didn't mean! Oh, Chaos… this is gonna be a tough one to convince… Let's just… go."

An embarrassed Espio sped past Vector, not wanting to look towards his way. Perhaps he hung onto him a bit TOO long.

…and why wouldn't he mind doing it again?


	6. Chapter 6

**(AN: Hey everyone! I can't believe it, I actually got a chapter done on time.**

 **...granted I skipped school yesterday but hey who's telling?**

 **I don't got much to talk about, there's still a month 'till Forces comes out, and I don't have a Switch. So, just enjoy!)**

* * *

"I can't believe it, we're actually having a dinner in peace," Vector said just before taking a bite of his steak.

"Could this have had something to do with what we did back there?" Espio questioned. "Well, whatever the case, I'm just glad that's over with. The Examineer may still exist, but we need to dismantle it somehow."

"Speaking of that, do you guys wanna know what me and Tails found out?" Charmy asked.

"Oh, uh… of course. Tell us, Charmy."

"Well, we learned that the magazine is mass produced by these robots!"

The two reptiles were silent. "Charmy… we saw the same thing too…" Vector said.

"Oh…"

"Well, anything else?"

"No… I suggested to Tails that we attack it but he said it wasn't a good idea."

Now Vector and Espio looked at each other. Hopefully this wouldn't come back to bite them.

"There was somethin' that was botherin' me though…" Vector commented, changing the subject. "Before that robot deactivated, it said something… like… 'Foretune'?"

"Foretune? Right, I remember now. It did say that. But what it could be? Is it the name of a person?"

"If it mentioned it, then this guy might have something to do with the Examineer- ergh… what the? Why did it just get cold?"

"Oh Chaos… now that you mention it…" Espio shook, rubbing his arms together.

"Do you want me to look?" Charmy asked.

"No, no, I got this," Vector got off from his seat and walked over to the thermostat. It read 71 degrees, but why was it this cold?"

"Damn, I think it's broken!"

"Broken? Oh no…"

"And cases haven't come at all… The only calls we get now are from people asking 'bout our article in the Examineer."

"I'm going to get my coat…" Espio said.

"But dinner's gonna be cold!" Charmy whined.

"Ya better eat fast before it does, Charmy. Seems like we'll be havin' cold AC until we have enough money to get this fixed."

The bee's face fell. So much was happening in such a little time; the Examineer, investigations, now the AC breaking. It was too much for the child, and he began to sob.

"W-why can't we ev-ever get a break!"

Vector would normally get annoyed by Charmy's crying, but he could understand the bee's pain. His face fell.

"I know, kid… I just wish we could do more…"

* * *

 **LATER THAT NIGHT**

Espio tried to sleep off the cold, but even bundled in layers and layers of sweaters, it wasn't enough. Rubbing his arms, he got out of bed and coughed.

"This isn't winter, you stupid AC…" He groaned, already wishing for the warmth. The chameleon made a mental note of not to take things such as air conditioning for granted.

Knowing what he'd always do, he walked over to Vector's room and opened the door. There, Espio could see Vector still awake in his bed, rubbing his arms.

"It's bad too?" He asked.

"Couldn't believe it," Vector replied. "We doin' our normal thing during the cold?"

"Of course."

Before Espio could take a few steps, Vector stopped him.

"Wait, uh… Espio? Before ya do this, ya know… ya aren't obligated to do this. I mean, with the Examineer and all…"

"Vector, I don't care about a stupid tabloid at a time like this. I'm cold just like you are."

He could see the crocodile shrug. "Alright then…"

Espio walked over to the bed and got on it, rolling over so his back was against Vector.

"Wouldn't it be great if this whole Examineer drama didn't happen? Now I'm just waitin' fer the reporters to show up and be like 'This is the proof that Vector and Espio are dating!' Like damn, I'm just cold," Vector joked.

"You can still always find humor in situations like this, Vector. I commend that," Espio replied.

"Ya comfy?"

"Of course. Your bed is big enough for the both of us."

"Whaddya say after we fix the AC, I get a queen sized bed for the both of us?"

"Right, so I can be the person who goes to bed with cream on his face, cucumbers covering my eyes, and some crazy hair-do,"

"That's the last TV stereotype I'd see ya ever do, Espio." Vector laughed.

"Some television shows can be so stupid, Vector. Sometimes you have to relish in their stupidity."

"Sure Mr. 'I watch the Nature Channel unironically'… Whatever ya say."

"Hush…"

Vector chuckled. "Well, I think we've already acted like a couple as is. Let's go to bed."

"Hey now, what did I say about that?"

"Just teasin'… night, Espio…"

"Good night…"

As Espio fell asleep, he felt relaxed. It was like all the drama of the past few days didn't occur.

And during the night, he swore he felt Vector drape his arm around him. It didn't mean much… until he felt the crocodile slightly caress his face.

* * *

 **THE NEXT MORNING**

"There we go, should get 'em runnin' fer the hills."

The crocodile had finished placing a sign by the Chaotix Detective Agency. Espio looked at it with slight concern while Charmy was excited.

"Don't you think this is a bit barbaric?" Espio questioned.

"I mean come on, Espio! Look at it! Wouldn't scare someone?"

Espio read the sign. It read: _"Examineer reporters not welcome, those trespassing will not only be shot on sight, but fed to the crocodiles."_

"I think that's wicked!" Charmy exclaimed.

"We don't even HAVE crocodiles," Espio replied.

"I'm one," Vector winked. The chameleon rolled his eyes.

"So, did Tails say we're meeting at the same place at the same time?"

"Yeah. We probably should hear about what the other guys heard."

"But we haven't had breakfast!"

"Oh right… do we have anything?"

"I'm not sure… the weekend is coming up soon, so I can go grocery shopping. IF we can afford anything…"

"Awh, don't be like that. Hmm… how's 'bout we have breakfast at a bakery somewhere before we head off to our 'secret headquarters'."

"Yeah! Let's do that!"

"Sure, I haven't had a good bagel in some time…"

* * *

 **THAT AFTERNOON**

"Okay, let's discuss about what we found. Sonic, Amy, Knuckles, you're up," Tails said, jumping straight into the meeting.

"I think we might have found some new leads into the reporters. There was a strange device I had found deep within the neck of one of the robot reporters. Tails took a look at it, and sure enough, it seems to be a geographical device that commands the robot to move to a certain direction," Amy said.

"I think it simply tells the robot where to go, and if I'm mistaken, this should be the biggest lead to finding out the HQ for the Examineer," Knuckles added.

"Vector, Espio?" Sonic asked.

"Well, me 'n Espio found out there is no printing location. The robots are all designed to print the Examineer themselves. Should there BE an HQ, it might be hard to pinpoint," Vector said.

"Add to that the person behind this could switch locations, this may be difficult than we thought," Espio added. "Although… something bugged me… The robot was being controlled by the CEO of GamNeg when we took care of it. But… it mentioned a name… Foretune…"

"Foretune? Shadow and I encountered a robot saying the same thing as well. It said something like, "Foretune will be pleased with this week's issue"," Rouge said.

"Is this Foretune dude the CEO then?" Sonic questioned.

"I think that should be our new question."

Just then, the TV mounted on a wall near them buzzed to life. Someone must have turned it on.

 _"…and in other news…"_ A news reporter said. _"GamNeg publishing company CEO Foretune P. Milliarde has announced a mobile version of the popular 'Mobius Examineer' tabloid. The tabloid, which has taken Mobius by storm, has been in high demand for a mobile version. CEO Milliarde said that the mobile version of the Examineer is a turning point for GamNeg, expecting sales could increase for the company. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to see what's in the headlines… Ooh! Shadow the Hedgehog attends group therapy? How interesting!"_

While the black hedgehog sat fuming in anger, the rest of the investigation team looked at each other.

"Well, that solves it. Foretune P. Milliarde is the CEO of GamNeg," Espio said.

"Could someone think of anything more stupid?" Sonic replied. "Like, who would name their kid that?!"

"Sonic, now's not the time for that. The important thing is, we need to show the world that Foretune is nothing more than a sham who exploits people for money!" Amy scolded.

"But how are we gonna start?" Charmy asked. "We dunno where GamNeg is!"

"What if Mr. Foretune did that interview, knowing we're watching?" Cream suggested. Now, everyone was silent.

"He's tauntin' us… that's why he revealed himself on TV… He knows we're lookin' fer him… It's all just a game to him.

"So let's take him down!" Charmy exclaimed.

"Hold on there, Charmy. We need a plan," Tails said. "Listen, our objective now is to find out the whereabouts of Foretune. Once we do that, we can take down the Examineer for good. Today's meeting is over, just remember: we're close to reaching the end. If we can do this, our names are cleared!"

* * *

After nearly everyone left, the Chaotix stayed behind to do a bit of asking around. Amy was still there, getting lunch.

"Hey, Espio," She said.

"Oh, Amy. How are you doing?"

"Not too shabby. Besides this whole Examineer thing. I had to buy a new bed to show those losers I don't use toilet paper as a blanket."

"Yes, I don't blame you. Last night was the first night no reporter bugged us."

"Really? Lucky… hey listen, I don't wanna buy into the claims, especially since we're working together but…"

"But what?"

"I noticed today you were acting this way to Vector. I can't really place my finger on it…"

Espio was freaking out on the inside. "Wh-what do you mean?"

"It's like… I don't want to say flirty, but like, as if you're SUPER close."

"He-he's just a friend! Don't get ideas like that in your head!"

"Yeah… that was pretty dumb right? Well, I think I'm going to eat lunch now. Forgot what I said, it probably doesn't mean much. Enjoy your day, Espio!"

"You too…"

As the pink hedgehog walked away, Espio turned around.

 _"So… even she's noticed…"_


	7. Chapter 7

**(AN: Good morning everyone! I'd normally post later today, but it's Saturday, meaning I have to work. Blegh. Well, in the hopes you have a better day than I will, here's a brand new chapter!)**

* * *

"Hello?"

"Mr. Foretune?"

Foretune, holding the phone in one hand and a wine glass in the other, grumbled. "Who is this?"

"Robot #28-W?"

"Ah, yes. The penguin. So? Is next week's issue ready for shipment?"

"Yes, sir. Of course. We just have a bit of an issue…"

"What's that?"

"It's about Sonic the Hedgehog and his friends. We think he may have finally caught up to us. Perhaps that interview you did on TV didn't help."

"Don't question me, otherwise we'll find a NEW use for you. I did that interview because I know they're looking for me. The only thing now is for them to come to ME…"

"Sir… with all due respect… they'll wipe out all the reporters then… come after you!"

Foretune's eyes lowered. " _What do you think I just said?... You are on thin ice…"_

"Y-yes sir! I understand! I apologize! I'll return to work!"

The call ended and Foretune hung up the phone. He looked at his reflection with the mirror on his desk. Here he was; a white and red pheasant of only 36 years and the successful owner of a company like GamNeg.

And famed hero Sonic the Hedgehog and his friends were after his blood.

"This… will be interesting… He said, pouring himself more wine.

* * *

 **MEANWHILE…**

"Geez, fox! You've been taking up space and chairs at my place! If you really need to meet that bad, meet up somewhere else!"

Tails sighed. Now all of a sudden the outdoor restaurant owner was having problems with him and the rest of the Investigation Team having their meetings here.

"I swear… I should get the Examineer on you, you little punk…" The man grumbled, walking away.

And so, Tails was now forced to relocate the Secret Headquarters to his workshop.

"Well hey, at least it actually FEELS like an HQ now," Amy commented, sipping on a cup of tea.

"So anyway… what's today's agenda?" Vector asked.

"Well I'm glad you're up and running, Vector! I've already written down everything!" Tails flew over to a whiteboard on a cart. "So, here's what we already know: the Examineer isn't run by Eggman. The reporters are all robots and they mass produce the Examineer. Finally, the CEO of GamNeg Corporation is Foretune P. Milliarde."

"Okay… we've gone over this point before plenty of times. What's different?" Knuckles asked.

"The problem is that we know so little about GamNeg, Knuckles. Not even the official website lists Foretune as the CEO. We need every little bit of information before we can go after him."

"If you don't mind, I'd like to interrupt for a brief moment. I've been asking around and I think I may have secured an image of our CEO in question," Rouge interrupted. "Here."

Rouge pulled out a picture from her pocket and everyone gathered around it. Sure enough, there was a middle aged white and red pheasant in a suit.

"Geez, he has a punchable face," Shadow commented.

"Aw, c'mon Shads! I'm sure he's not that bad. Just the guy who… needs a spin dash to the body!" Sonic replied.

"He looks very rich…" Cream added. Vector and Charmy got dollar signs in their eyes.

"Normally I would disavow your greed, but this man makes enough money running fake stories off of us. Plus we can finally afford stuff," Espio said.

"So… now what? We saw the guy's face. Who knows where he could be," Amy said.

"Don't count your chickens before they hatch, Amy. I overheard as well that this weekend, Foretune himself will make his first public appearance in Station Square. That could be our perfect time to strike," Rouge replied.

"Next weekend? I better start training then. I need to be as strong as possible if we're gonna take down Foretune!" Knuckles exclaimed.

"Wait hold on, are we going to fight Mr. Foretune?!" Cream replied, shocked.

"Uh… now that I think about it… are we?"

"Well… I was hoping to secure a deal with him to get the articles to stop but…" Tails said.

"If he doesn't, we'll just beat him up?"

"Sounds like the only appropriate response," Shadow replied.

"It's funny that you talk about beating up and GamNeg," Sonic said. "Look who's at the window."

Immediately, everyone turned their heads. They saw a reporter from GamNeg, a pig. He had a look of shock on his face before running away.

"H-hey! Get back here!" She yelled, taking out her Piko Piko Hammer.

"If we can't find Foretune, then this reporter should give us everything we need to know," replied Espio.

"Alright! Let's go!" Charmy buzzed.

* * *

Within the moments, everyone had split up in search of the mystery journalist. The Chaotix looked around at the forest by the workshop for clues, hoping that their little reporter could answer his questions.

"Isn't that him right there?" Charmy asked. He pointed to the pig, who was turning around back and forth.

"It's like he's waitin' fer someone…" Vector commented. "Which means we gotta take him by surprise-"

"Here I go!"

"Wait what?!"

Charmy buzzed to the man and pointed his stinger at the reporter. The reporter jumped in the air, feeling the pain as the two reptiles came out of hiding.

"Now Mr.! Tell us where Foretune is!" Charmy exclaimed, hoping to sound as cool as his friends during a case."

"Don't think we don't know you're a part of GamNeg!" Espio said.

"Mm… mmm hmm hmm hmm hmm hmm!" The man replied. "So… I am apart of GamNeg… so WHAT?!"

The sudden change in tone surprised the two reptiles. The robot reporters… they didn't act or sound like this…

Before anything could happen, Vector noticed for a brief second… the reporter move. That's when he got scared.

"Down!"

He grabbed Espio and Charmy threw them along with himself to the ground. When he looked up, he saw a black and red aura around the reporter as he began to transform. Arms shot out of the body as it slowly raised him up.

"What?! How…. how can this endoskeleton transform like this?!" Espio questioned. It was just then that a hammer was thrown at the monster.

"Guys! What the heck is this?!" Amy screamed. The rest of the investigation team followed behind as the monster came back to his sense. He looked at the group, a sly smile forming on his face.

"Here I comeeeeeee~!" He slithered, striking his arms at the group. Everyone got out of the way.

"Where's the weak point?" Sonic questioned.

"I'll try to find it, Sonic!" Tails replied, flying around and dodging the monster as he looked for a place he could hit.

"Foun-"

The fox was knocked out of the sky. The monster looked back at the group.

"Mr. Foretune doesn't like that you're intervening his plan! If you fools knew what was good for you, you'll stop your little investigation!" He said.

"Well, why don't you tell Foretune this?!" Knuckles replied, running up to punch the robot.

"Knuckles, no! He saw your move!" Shadow yelled. It was too late, the monster picked up the echidna and held him by his waist.

"Argh… dang it!" He exclaimed.

"That red headed idiot…" Rouge muttered. "If I must, I'll get you down. Everyone, find a way to defeat this thing!"

"I'll check on Tails!" Cream said. Everyone else nodded as they began the fight against the transformed reporter. Sonic attempted his homing attack on the various arms of the monster, with no success. Espio thought throwing some kunais and Charmy using his sting at the same time would cause a dent. Of course, it didn't. Vector was attempting to lift it up.

"I thought I was… argh… strong!" He exclaimed through grit teeth, slowly lifting up the creature by mere centimeters.

"This is enough! Should Foretune find out… no… perhaps I should let Foretune kill you… better yet… why don't I show your bodies to him?! Then we can write as much about you all as we want!"

"If you think you're gonna profit off all of this… you're wrong!" Sonic said.

"I may be a thief, but a thief's role is to not let herself be uncovered. You think this kind of 'fake' journalism makes you good?!" Rouge added.

"That concept is so ridiculous. Everything besides our own tabloid is fake!" The monster said.

"It's purely based on rumors and single handed experiences! How can you call that the truth?!" Amy yelled.

"You better not question me, pinky. Did you forget your little friend is with me?!" Knuckles was squeezed tightly.

"Amy! It feels like he's gonna crush my guts!"

"We have to get Knuckles down!" Vector said.

"Let me," Espio replied.

"Espio, no! Who knows what he could do to you?!"

Vector didn't know why he was being so brash. Normally, he would let Espio let out hell… but now…

"Vector, this is Knuckles. Our friend. I'll be fine."

Espio quickly ran in the other direction, avoiding more arms from the monster. Sonic and his friends watched, paralyzed. They wanted to stop Espio… but knew no matter how hard they'd try, he wouldn't stop.

The chameleon quickly climbed up one arm as it tried to shake him off.

"I swear I saw a movie like this…" Charmy whispered to Vector.

Just as he said, Espio was able to make it to the very top. Knuckles tried to reach out to the chameleon, who jumped in order to get him down.

Unfortunately, he missed his mark. Espio began to fall and the monster caught him, trapping him along with Knuckles.

"ESPIO!" Vector yelled. Now the crocodile was getting angry. "Yer gonna pay, dammit! That's mah friend!"

"Ah… the crocodile… isn't this man in the scandal YOU'RE involved with? Come save your boyfriend then!"

Just before Vector could make his strike, a voice stopped them.

"ENOUGH!"

Everyone stopped to see who screamed. It was Cream.

"Um… was I too loud?"

She shook her head. "No, that doesn't matter anymore! Mr. Reporter, let go of Mr. Knuckles and Espio right now!"

"Awh ha ha ha ha! And why should I do THAT, girly? Should we write another story about you?"

"Because… because you can't handle the truth!"

"The truth?"

"The truth that… that your magazine is nothing more than a series of lies! You exist merely to feed off the pain and suffering of famous people and get rich off of it when it hurts the people its directed too! Lies are spread, families break apart, no one is happy! If anything, we should write about how awful YOU are! And in fact…"

Cream would go on her rant for nearly 5 minutes. Everyone stood; shocked that such an innocent girl went on a brutal verbal rampage.

"…so THERE!"

The robot simply stood still. Then, it let go of Espio and Knuckles. Cream gasped, she quickly flew over to the closest one; Knuckles. But she saw the chameleon was closer to the ground. The bunny sighed when she saw the crocodile catch Espio in his arms.

"Yeh okay, bud?" The green reptile asked.

"Argh… never better… I just wish you came a lot sooner…" Espio replied.

 _"…D-DO-DOES NOT… PROCESS… THE TRUTH… WHAT IS THE TRUTH? WE ARE TRUTH, WE ARE TRUTH, WE ARE TRUTH, WE ARE NOT LIES, WE SPEAK THE TRUTH… EVERYTHING IS FAKE… WE ARE… TRUTH…"_

"The robot's going haywire!" Shadow said.

"But Tails is still there!" Sonic said. "Cream, did you forget?"

"Oh no! I'm sorry, Mr. Sonic!" She replied.

"Don't worry, I got him."

Sonic quickly zoomed past the malfunctioning robot as he tried to process everything Cream had yelled about.

 _"TRUTH TRUTH TRUTH… WHAT IS TRUTH? WE ARE…. TR…."_

The robot collapsed slowly, every part of it detaching like a toy. Everyone stepped back, waiting for the explosion. Instead however, the robot simply fell to the ground… and melted.

"These reporter robots… so they can't handle the REAL truth…" Rouge said.

"No one at GamNeg can handle the truth. They're a company based on lies…" Shadow replied.

"Which means if we're gonna dismantle it, we need to show the people what GamNeg truly is," Vector added.

"Ngh…" Tails murmured, head moving.

"Tails! Are you alright buddy?" Sonic asked.

"Sonic?... what happened?..." He replied, groggy.

"We beat that robot… and now we're definitely gonna take on GamNeg."

"Can you put me down?..."

"Are you sure you can walk?"

"Yeah… I'm just a bit dizzy."

The hedgehog let the fox down, Tails rubbed his head.

"Okay… so you guys beat the robot… and I remember now: we were gonna take on GamNeg next weekend at their little convention when Foretune comes."

"That's right. I suggest we suspend meetings for now," Amy said. "I don't think we need Foretune suspecting us of anything rash."

"I think he knows we're gonna be there. What we need to do is make him think that we aren't planning anything," Espio replied. "Is that why you suggest not meeting?"

"Precisiely! Rouge, can you find out what time's the appearance. We'll have to meet at Station Square, so don't forget the date!"

"When did you become the leader?" The bat questioned.

"Normally Tails is our leader, but he's hurt so I'm it for now."

"I'm not that hurt…" Tails muttered.

Everyone soon walked away, glad that the battle was over.

* * *

 **MEANWHILE…**

 _"I put stocks into your company for a reason… and now you're saying they've already found you out?!"_ A distorted voice said. _"I told you to not do that live interview and reveal your name to the world!"_

Foretune's gaze lowered. "Isn't your little industry named and shaped around yourself?"

The voice growled. _"You little… Whatever! Foretune, I suggest you come up with better ideas to keep your little company alive. It does all of us a favor you know."_

"Whatever you say. Excuse me, I'm getting another call. I'll talk later."

The call ended as Foretune picked up the call on hold.

"Foretune speaking, what is it?" He asked.

 _"Mr. Foretune… another robot has gone off the radar."_

"WHAT?!"

 _"We believe it was Sonic and his friends… they found out one of the reporters…"_

"And they beat the battle A.I.?!"

 _"It seems so."_

"Blast! So we really DO have to update it… very well. Bring in the technicians who developed the battle A.I. I wish to have a word with them…."

 _"Very well, sire."_

The call ended as Foretune looked at the date. Just a few more days to go until his public appearance… And he knew this little 'team' would appear.

Foretune smirked. There was no other clever way…

* * *

 **THAT NIGHT**

"Hey Espio… yeh hurt?"

"After our battle?"

The two reptiles were up late at night, reviewing more clues about the Examineer.

"Yeah…"

"No… no I'm fine…"

Vector nodded. "It's just… I can't help to think about it…"

"Is it about what the robot said about you being my 'boyfriend'?"

"I guess yes… That article has me think about a lot…"

Espio was silent. Could… could Vector be making this article be true? Did he really have feelings?...

"Vector… do you like me?"

"I-in that way?! No! Just as a friend, man!"

"Vector. I don't want you to be scared… if you do…"

"I don't… I swear!"

But even in his heart, the crocodile knew a piece of him was lying. If he didn't… why was he so worried about him getting hurt?

…and why did the idea of being called a boyfriend to the chameleon… not so bad?...

And even bigger than that… why did Espio look so good in a way he never had before, looking at the cases with a stoic face?


	8. Chapter 8

**(AN: Hey all! I probably should have a lot to say here but at the time of posting this, I have less than 20 mins to head to work :O**

 **Other than that, I preordered Sonic Forces! And did you guys see that Chaotix themed Forces comic? It cured my depression tbh**

 **On with the show!)**

* * *

 **THAT WEEKEND…**

 **Downtown Station Square, Saturday, 1:13 P.M.**

 _"Rouge to Investigation Team. I'm currently in the crowd of people in disguise. No one has yet spotted me,"_

The bat spoke into a receiver phone, keeping her voice low so that no one could hear her. She was lucky she put on her red coat and hat. People usually wouldn't recognize her at first while wearing it.

 _"Alright. This should give us time to move out,"_ responded Espio.

 _"Ready to fire!"_ shouted Charmy.

 _"Not now! We gotta at least wait fer the right moment!"_ Vector scolded.

 _"Okay, give us a minute,"_ Amy replied. _"We'll meet you there."_

Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Amy, Cream, Shadow, and the Chaotix stepped out of their hiding spots, wearing trench coats and hats. They made sure to keep their heads down, avoiding eye contact with anymore.

"Remember, act natural until the time comes," Espio whispered to Vector and Charmy. "No funny business like you two normally do. We're trying to make Foretune think we're not here."

"Won't Mr. Foretune be looking into the audience?" Cream asked.

"That's why it's important we blend into our environment," Tails replied. The group got into the large crowd, people waiting anxiously for the speech.

"Geez, it's just a tabloid, not a press conference…" Sonic complained.

"I dun get why these guys are goin' nuts over this thing," Vector added.

"Shh, you'll give us away!" Amy whispered.

"With you hushing everyone, you will too," Shadow slyly remarked. The pink hedgehog rolled her eyes.

As the group stood in the crowd, Knuckles took the receiver.

"Okay bat girl, we're in position," he said.

 _"Good, now all we have to do is wait until Foretune arrives."_

With everyone playing the waiting game, they all looked around to make sure no one noticed them. The crocodile looked back and forth.

"What's wrong?" Espio asked.

"Nothin'… just… tryin' not to get caught," The reptile replied.

"You keep looking and acting paranoid, you will. Relax Vector; we came after Foretune, not his silly little followers."

Vector took a deep breath… sometimes he was glad Espio was around.

After minutes of waiting, an unidentified person came on stage.

"We apologize for the wait, but it is finally over! May we please welcome, Mr. Foretune P. Milliarde, CEO of GamNeg Publishing!"

Everyone in the audience clapped. Realizing that they had to play their role, the group all clapped together.

On cue, the pheasant walked on stage and took the microphone.

"Thank you for that, Assistant Manager Clovis. Hello, I'm glad to see you're all having a great afternoon. As mentioned, I am indeed Foretune Milliarde, owner of GamNeg and currently publishing the Mobius Examineer. I present today's exciting event due to the fact that I have fantastic news about GamNeg's future!"

More clapping ensued. But the team just lowered their eyes.

"I am very glad about the turnabout today. You'll be the first to know before our very readers! Now, to begin, I'd like to introduce our new application, set to be coming out in less than a week's time. Exciting, I know. But we're not at the beef of things! You see, we're here to announce a television program of the Examineer!"

Everyone clapped again while the Investigation Team just stood in shock. It was bad enough that they were being followed; now they were being followed and FILMED?!

"I swear I wanna kick Foretune in the face over and over again…" Vector growled.

"And as such, I'd like to present you our pilot episode. The episode was a hit with test audiences, and we've even been signed onto a second season before this episode has even reached TV!"

Behind Foretune, a video was being displayed. No doubt, it was the pilot episode.

 _"THEIR LIVES SHIELDED TO MAKE SURE NO ONE FINDS OUT THE TRUTH… HEROES WHO HOLD A DOUBLE LIFE. THIS IS THE SHOW THEY'RE GURANTEED TO HATE! TONIGHT ON EXAMINEEEEEER, WHERE OUR CRACK TEAM OF REPORTERS BRING YOU THE LATEST NEWSSSSSSSS!"_

Vector cringed on the inside. This was popular with a test audience?!

 _"Amy Rose. Her go-go boots? Way too old!"_ said one of the 'reporters' on the show. Everyone in the room gasped.

 _"This! This is the biggest news since the weekly Eggman attack!"_ said Foretune on the screen. The bird himself seemed to be getting a kick out of seeing himself on TV.

 _"EXAMINEEEEEER, WE'RE REALLY IMPORTANT!"_

 _"Wave the Swallow has acne on her legs!"_ another reporter claimed. Everyone in the room gasped as the audience voiced their disgust.

"I wish Wave could come and show this guy a lesson…" Tails mused.

 _"NEW FRONT PAGE! Wave the Swallow has acne on her legs, doesn't care ANYTHING about the world!"_

At this point, the concept of this 'show' was hurting the heads of the Investigation Team.

"Do… people actually WATCH this garbage?!" Espio said.

 _"EXAMINEEEEEEEER, YOUR LIFE WOULD BE NOTHING WITHOUT US!"_

 _"Vanilla the Rabbit… taking her daughter to the dentist,"_ Yet another person said. Everyone laughed.

 _"IT'S LIKE WHAT, CREAM HAS TEETH LIKE YOU AND ME?!"_ The pheasant replied.

 _"EXAMINEEEEEEER, WE DEDICATE OUR LIVES TO MAKE SURE YOU DON'T HAVE ONE!"_

 _"Okay okay, I was digging through Knuckles the Echidna's garbage like any normal person, and I found burger wrappers!"_

Everyone gasped.

 _"AND HE PRIDES HIMSELF ON BEING A VEGITARIAN!"_ Foretune laughed.

"That was because of you two…" Knuckles muttered to Sonic and Tails.

 _"YOU MEAN KNUCKLES EATS FOOD?!"_

 _"Gee, I think someone's going through a budget crisis if all he can afford is cheap burgers."_

 _"EXAMINEEEEEEEEER, YOU SNOOZE ON US, YOU LOSE ON US!"_

 _"Guys, I have a picture of Sonic the Hedgehog… with chili on his mouth!"_

Everyone gasped once again in an exaggerated manner. Foretune raised his fist.

 _"Shun him! We must shun him! Put that picture on the front page!"_

 _"EXAMINEEEEEEEEEER, WATCH AS YOU DUMBASSES WATCH US!"_

 _"E-123 Omega looks fat."_

Everyone laughed.

"I… I just don't understand this…" Shadow rolled his eyes.

 _"EXAMINEEEEEEEER, To be, or not to be, that is the question: Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune… uh, I mean… WE TREND UNTIL THE END!"_

One of the women on the show was crying.

 _"Ms. Hambone, what is it?"_ Foretune asked.

 _"I just thought… what if I actually started doing REAL journalism and NOT running people lives by spreading false claims? What if I respected my job and contributing something productive to society?"_

Foretune slapped her. The crowd riled in laughter.

"Rouge, is the thing we talked about ready?" Tails spoke into the receiver.

"Are you as sick of this thing as I am?"

"YES."

"Let's wait until this is done."

 _"DON'T THINK LIKE THAT MS. HAMBONE! Who else is going to report on Espio the Chameleon's double chin?!"_

"Double chin?!" Espio growled.

 _"Just swallow your diginity and remember you have nothing to lose."_

 _"EXAMINEEEEEEEER, OUR STAFF SUICIDES ARE AT AN ALL TIME LOW!"_

The end of the pilot came to a close as everyone clapped.

"Now, PLEASE before Foretune does something else."

"Very well."

Rouge took out a button from her coat. Plan 1 was in motion. In just a few seconds time, Tails' automatically piloted airplanes would come to drop smoke gas, leaving the team alone with Foretune.

"I'd advise you cover your eyes and mouth."

"You heard her!"

Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Amy, Vector, Espio, Charmy, Cream, and Shadow did as they were told as the overhead planes flew by. The gas was dropped, and everyone began to scream and run away. Foretune sounded conflicted at first before returning to his simple voice.

"Oh ladies and gentlemen, I'm sure it's nothing. Indeed, would you like to see-"

The plan worked. Everyone was out of the audience. Everyone grouped together, only wondering what would happen next.

"It's the end of the line, Foretune!" Vector said. "Yer little days of profitin' off us is over!"

"Ah… how I should have known you lot would have been here. I didn't suspect a thing until that gas fell from the sky. I must admit, you… caught me off guard," The pheasant said.

"Why?! Why are you doing this?!" Amy stomped her foot on the ground.

"Do you enjoy seeing us suffer, Mr. Foretune?" Cream questioned.

"Suffer? No no no, girly. I only do this for the money. I don't do this to hurt people's feelings. If anything, shouldn't it be the same people you protect the ones you show your anger to?"

The group stopped. They… hadn't considered such a thing.

"So you only do this for money then? Don't try to act innocent. You're the one spreading the lies all and all. You're the dang CEO after all!" Rouge yelled.

"And?"

"And what? We came here for the intention to-"

Tails interrupted Knuckles. "Strike a deal with you. What do you want that'll stop the Examineer. All we want to do is live our lives in peace. We've gotten none of it since the Examineer began."

"Peace? Letting my magazine stop? Foolish! I was once a poor boy living on the streets of Station Square. Do you THINK I'll let you destroy my company, the thing I made all on my own?!"

"If it's spreading lies about people, yes!" Charmy yelled.

"When one fails to realize the truth, that's when things become unclear. They enter a state of denial, like YOU have, Foretune!" Espio pointed at the bird.

"The truth… ha ha ha… you think you know the truth? There's so much you don't know… but I've wasted my time on little ingrates like you!"

Foretune pressed a button. Immediately, turrets popped up from the ground.

"Well, so long, "Investigation Team". Ha… ha ha ha! How foolish of a name that is! Calling yourself the Investigation Team, saying stuff like "let's go to the secret hideout!", it's like you lot are nothing more than a mere child playing detective! How old are you all even?! Don't you have anything better to do?"

"Not when everyone and their mother is botherin' us!" Vector pointed at Foretune.

"Children children children, that's who I'm wasting my time with. So, farewell. Should you come out of this alive, I'll be waiting for you at GamNeg HQ…"

The podium that Foretune sat upon began to rumble as it suddenly shot up into the sky.

"Wait!" Sonic yelled.

"It's too late! He got away…" Tails said. "And neither me, Charmy, or Cream can get to him."

"Less talk, we have to focus on how we're getting out of here…" Espio held up a kunai.

Just then, more robots fell from the sky.

"Oh come on, Foretune! Play fair!" Amy complained.

The robots aimed their arm cannons at the group as they all jumped out of the way. Explosions blew up the same spot they once stood.

"Alright, let's split up!" Vector yelled. "We need to get rid of as many of these!"

Sonic used his spin dash on the turrets as Amy and Knuckles was taking care of one robot. Tails, Rouge, Cream, and Shadow were taking on another, and the Chaotix were left to another.

Vector bit down onto the arm of the robot, trying to rip it off with his strength. Charmy was attempting to shoot his stinger into the eyes of the robot. Meanwhile, Espio threw a few ninja stars into the chest of the robot.

Just as the crocodile ripped off the arm, he looked at Espio climbing up the robot.

"Espio, what is up with ya and climbin' up robots?!" He yelled.

"Taking off the head! Now distract him by removing the other arm!" The chameleon replied.

"If ya think I'm gonna help ya with that, fer Chaos' sake I'm tryin' to make sure yer not gonna get hurt!"

"Stop worrying and just-"

Before Espio could finish, he was grabbed by the robot with its other arm.

"Argh! Not again!" He yelled, trying to shake himself free. "Now can you see why I said to…. agh! Remove the other arm!"

"Espio!"

"Vector, help him!" Charmy said, worried. The green reptile ran towards the robot, biting down and trying to rip out the arm. As the robot realized what was going on, it threw Espio.

"ESPIO!" He yelled, seeing the chameleon's limp body fly into the air. None of his friends could react in time to see Espio crash onto the floor. Vector ran towards him, seeing the limp chameleon on the ground. His horn was slightly cracked, and his scales were bleeding. But… he was still moving.

"Espio… ya idiot… what is it with yeh and tryin' to decapitate robots?" Vector asked.

"You not only change your question, but fail to realize that… this was the first time I think I've tried to do that," The reptile replied.

"Yer makin' jokes? Yup, yer fine," Vector chuckled. "Alright, let's get ya back up."

As the crocodile got up, Espio hissed as he held his side. He quickly fell back to the ground.

"Espio? Are ya sure yer okay?!"

"F-Fine…"

"No yeh aren't! If that's how you clearly are, yer in no fit to fight!"

"I'll be fine, Vector! Don't worry for me…"

"Yer mah friend! How can ya say that?!"

A robot crashed near them.

"Here, lemme take care of these. I'll tell Amy to call fer an ambulance!"

The crocodile's brow lowered as he looked at the robot that just crashed near the two reptiles. He ran towards it, screaming as he smashed his fist straight into it.

* * *

 **IN THE END…**

With the last robot Vector took out, that was it for all the robots. The rest were able to take care of the robots while Charmy looked out for Espio.

As Tails used a robot to clean up the mess, Espio was taken on a stretcher. The paramedics who found him said while he has no broken bones, he does have wounds that will, at most, take two days to heal.

"I feel so sorry for Espio…" Amy murmured.

"He should have known that Foretune would go all out on us…" Rouge replied.

"Are you blaming him for that?!" Sonic asked.

"No, just that he should have been more careful knowing that man…"

"Yeah, Vector, how did-"

They noticed Vector was gone.

"V-Vector?!" Charmy yelled.

"He was just here!" Tails replied. "Where the heck is he?!"

Little did the Investigation Team know that the crocodile was riding in the back of the ambulance.

Why was he here? It wasn't like Espio was gravely injured. Something however… compelled him to go. He couldn't leave Espio alone, despite the loner persona he has. He was his best friend after all…

The crocodile looked sadly at Espio, rubbing the scales of the now asleep chameleon.

Now he was starting to question himself. What was he doing? It was almost like he was acting like a lover-

"No… I'm thinkin'… that Examineer's messin' with me…" He mumbled.

The crocodile looked back at Espio.

"But… I wish yeh'd wake up… I wanna see ya be yerself."

"Is there something you wish to tell me… Vector?"

Espio was waking up.

"E-espio!"

"I'm fine… I just can't believe you came along. You're just my friend."

"B-but I'm yer best friend!"

"Is there a reason you came?"

"…"

"You know, I felt you feeling my skin…"

Vector's skin grew red.

"Vector… I had my doubts… Do… do you really like me?"

Now butterflies were popping up in Vector's stomach.

"I…"

"Look, let me get better, and then we can talk about this…"

The crocodile nodded. He looked at the ground, twiddling his sweaty fingers. He could feel his heart beat fast, the warm and fuzzies on inside most notable of all feelings.


	9. Chapter 9

**(AN: What is it with me and posting chapters after new news about Forces? I swear, it's coming everywhere...**

 **Anyway, hello all! Here we are at another Friday bringing you another chapter of Read All About It! We're slowly reaching the end of this fic as more and more keep coming to light and happening. What's in it for today's chapter? Well, what you've all been waiting for of course! Let's not keep you all busy, and head straight in!)**

* * *

A few days had passed since Espio had been sent to the hospital. The chameleon's injuries weren't major, and the doctors decided that the next day would be perfect to send him home, as he had been able to stand up straight and walk.

Despite all this, Vector watched over his teammate the entire time.

Teammate however… was pushing it. After their talk in the ambulance, the crocodile had been analyzing his relationship with Espio in the past few days. Was he really just a friend? Was there more to it?

His answer came to him the night he fell asleep in front of Espio one night after hours. No one came to check up on him since his injuries were minor, so the crocodile simply stayed awake looking at Espio until sleep overtook him.

"Well, the doctors are lettin' yeh out tomorrow. Does this mean we can talk 'bout what we meant to talk 'bout in the ambulance?" Vector asked the next morning.

"Of course. I've been waiting for you to mention it. Do you have an answer finally, Vector?"

"I… it's hard to say. Yeh've been mah friend for so long, I guess we do stuff normal best friends just don't do."

"I see. But the question is, do you truly see me that way?"

"I dunno. I thought romance was somethin' sappy, ya gave flowers to someone, call them honey, stuff like that. I didn't realize it had a deeper meanin' to it…"

"I may be a loner ninja, but I realize romance has its place within humanity. It creates a special bond beyond anything greater. The power of bonds is something that is hard to break after all."

"Yer kinda deep 'bout this, ya know? Well… it's just like I expected to fall fer Vanilla cause it was natural."

"But if Vanilla didn't exist, would you have liked me?"

Vector blushed and turned away. "Y-yes…"

"Are you serious when you say that?"

"I feel like I'm not but mah heart and mind is sayin' I am… it's even tellin' me that even with Vanilla around, yer mah destined one… But it's like, even so… what about the Examineer?"

"A gossip magazine is what it is, meant to spread lies about someone. What's more importance, your happiness for coming true to yourself, or some magazine?"

Vector simply nodded his head. "I guess it is true then… I… I care 'bout yeh, Espio… And… y'know, this Examineer thing, it really has me determined to stop Foretune from spreadin' lies 'bout us. But who know this one lie… would be true?"

The crocodile coughed. "'cuse me, I just… I dunno how to feel… it's a new feelin'…"

"I agree… romance was the last thing I ever had focused on my mind. But with someone I can confine in like you, perhaps it's not so bad."

The green reptile grinned. "When this is over, wanna show that Examineer what a true couple is?"

He walked up to the bedridden Espio, taking his hand.

"I'd want nothing else…"

* * *

 **THE NEXT DAY**

After Espio's release from the hospital, it was back to work.

"Glad to have you back, Espio," Sonic grinned, fist bumping the chameleon when the Chaotix arrived to Tails' workship.

"We're so glad you're okay," Amy added. "You liked the gifts we got you?"

"Of course. I'm glad that you all took time to come visit," The chameleon nodded. "So, what's happened since my stay in the hospital?"

"Ooh, a new article," Tails replied.

"They're hellbent on getting us ever since we crashed the Examineer's conference," Shadow added. "Take a look yourself."

The chameleon took a look at the front cover, which read: "SONIC THE HEDGEHOG AND CO. DOMESTIC TERRORISTS?!"

"Grasping for straws that Foretune…" Rouge shook her head. "Our current task now is to find the HQ of GamNeg."

"But how can we? We said we dunno where it is!" Charmy replied.

"That leads me into the theory I've been developing since your stay in the hospital, Espio," The two tailed fox walked over to his white board. "I believe that the reason we CAN'T find the HQ isn't because it isn't in some remote area or something. In fact, what I believe is that the locations change."

"Change?!" Vector questioned. "If yer constantly movin' buildin's… naw, that's just impossible!"

"Foretune is doing it somehow. You see, during your time in the hospital, we infiltrated an Examineer building. We THOUGHT it was the HQ, but the Examineer kept printing. This meant that the locations change because Foretune know we're hunting for him."

"But yeh heard his taunt. He'll be 'waitin' fer us at GamNeg HQ'. How can he meet us if he's just settin' up fakes everywhere?"

"I remember… someone mentioned that Mr. Foretune saw this whole thing as a game," Cream shyly commented. "Could that be why?"

"She's not wrong. We did come up with that theory, and judging by how this is going, that's the direction its going," Knuckles said to the fox.

"If that's the case, then…"

Just then, a loud knock disturbed their thoughts.

"We know you're in there, Miles 'Tails' Prower! You're under arrest along with the rest of your silly little 'Investigation Team' friends for conspiring against GamNeg Publishing!"

"A-Arrest?!" Sonic spat.

The voice, which turned out to be none other than the police, pointed their weapons at the group.

"This is unconstitutional. Whoever made this claim is clearly making up a story! Who said this?!" Espio angrily said.

"Foretune P. Milliarde! CEO of GamNeg!"

"Of course! It's a set up!" Tails said.

Before they could escape, the group found their legs being tied by some electric rope. Being unable to move, the group could only watch as a familiar avian walked into the room.

"You've been a bad bunch, going back to your ways as soon as someone gets better. It's a good thing my reporters have been spying on you… Now that you lot are out of the way, the Examineer can thrive. Of course… knowing you all, you may find a way to escape and come after me to clear your names. But until then, enjoy the corrupt system known as prison as you contemplate: Who's really the evil one: me or you? Take them away…"

Pointing a stun gun at them, they were fired into all the members of the Investigation Group. Everyone was knocked out seconds later, Foretune laughing as he took out a cigar.

* * *

 **LATER**

 _"So are Sonic and his stupid friends NOW out of the picture?"_

"Of course. The officials took them all to custody. They can't put the bee and rabbit to trial due to age, but everyone else… This means they can be purged from this world."

 _"Oh but of course. It's what I requested…"_

"Now besides this, about the sales of last week's issues... Our performance chart has just arrived and it seems that sales are going DOWN. What should we do about this?"

 _"I thought you said they're going up?!"_

"It seems I was mistaken. What's the plan? Advertising? More public appearances to get the word out?"

 _"With Sonic and his friends out of the way, do anything! I need this magazine to extend to the far reaches of the planet if I have to!"_

"I see… well, it was good talking with you."

 _"Hrgh… all I will say is: at least you got that blue rodent taken care of."_

The call was over. Foretune looked at the salary budget for GamNeg this month. He could do anything now that influenced the police to arrest Sonic.

…not like they're even the REAL police!

* * *

 **MEANWHILE**

Back at Station Square, for the odd reason, the Investigation Team was being held in some kind of open cage for everyone to see. People booed them, some even throwing stuff.

"TERRORISTS!" A good chunk of them yelled.

"GOING TO BLOW UP THE POOR GAMNEG BUILDING EH? IS THAT WHAT A HERO DOES?!"

"HOW DARE YOU TRY TO RUIN MY FAVORITE MAGAZINE?!"

"I'M JUST HERE FOR THE FOOD!"

"What's wrong with these people?!" Espio exclaimed. "Are they being brainwashed by Foretune to believe this junk?!"

Suddenly, a car rolled up next to them. The window rolled down, and a familiar face popped out with camera men next to him.

"AND TODAY ON THIS VERY SPECIAL LIVE EPISODE OF EXAMINEEEEEER, WHERE WE'RE COOL, AND I MEAN REALLY COOL, WE HAVE THE INFAMOUS CRIMINALS THEMSELVES: SONIC THE HEDGEHOG AND HIS BAND OF FRIENDS! TELL ME, HOW DOES IT FEEL BEING IN THIS CAGE AND PUBLICLY MOCKED AND HUMILATED?!" It was the reporters from the live action Examineer program.

"You got a second episode?!" Charmy spat.

"OHHHH, DO YOU HEAR THIS LADIES AND GENTLEMEN?! THEY QUESTION OUR ABILITY TO ENTERTAIN YOU! SHUN THEM PUBLICLY WHENEVER YOU SEE THEM!"

Cream kept herself to the corner, worried about being separated from her mother and crying softly. Rouge kept trying to find a way to escape, and everyone else's sanity was being question as they were being led away.

* * *

 **AT THE STATION…**

The Investigation Team stood side by side, staring at a room full of police.

"As you can tell, you all know why you're here. The supposed terrorism against GamNeg," The chief said, walking up to them.

"Why do you keep wanting to believe their lies?!" Knuckles yelled. He was slapped by the chief.

"Don't speak out of line, echidna! So what if it's gossip, if it brings them income and it's something people enjoy, why bother trying to dismantle it?"

"Haven't you read one article from that thing? It's meant to simply slander us!" Vector growled.

"So publicity exists, and what? You want it to stop? Honestly, you guys were being forgotten by Mobius had it not been for this Examineer. Now you're known by everyone!"

"You treat it like it's a good thing! Aren't you the cops? Meant to bring justice to people being… oh I don't know, HARASSED?!" Amy sternly said.

"The cops don't bend over for everyone! You better learn that lesson right now girly!"

"I should have known… corrupt!" Rouge spat. "I may work for G.U.N., but I can see corruption from you all! Has Foretune influenced you at all like he has to all of Mobius?"

"What are you saying?..."

"I'm saying that Foretune has you all under his wing, so you would rather help his business than protect the harassed!"

"Exactly. And until you realize that, we will resist whatever you throw at us," Espio added.

The chief and his staff were silent. One of the cops, who happened to be reading the Mobius Examineer, set it down and chuckled.

"So… I guess we were found out. Chief, how's 'bout we make sure they don't make it out alive?"

The team was taken by shock. In just a brief moment, the animals that filled the room were being replaced with robots. The clothes they disguised under lay still on the floor.

"Damn, a trick!" Shadow yelled. He tugged on his handcuffs, hoping to get out. "Attack with your feet until we can get these things off!"

As everyone attempted to get their handcuffs off, the robots kept crawling towards their feet. Everyone tried kicking them away, but there was so little the group could do. Rouge was the first one who was able to get her handcuffs off.

"Try to run! I'll get your cuffs off!" She exclaimed. The bat brushed several of the robots away as she was able to free Cream, then Amy, and then Espio.

"Come on, Cream!" Amy said, taking Cream's hand and leading her to safety.

"Shouldn't we help the others?" The rabbit asked. "We can fight!"

"That's true, but we need to make sure we can escape from this place."

As the girls opened the door, Cream called out for everyone. They all ran towards the door, Charmy being the last one to escape before Knuckles shut the door. The group gasped for air.

"Okay… I have… SO many questions!" Vector breathed as Espio took off his cuffs. "What JUST happened in the past hour!"

 _"A test, my good crocodile…"_

"Foretune!"

The pheasant himself wasn't nearby, so it had to have been a speaker somewhere.

 _"I just wish to have fun. You're all making this game very exciting after all. This is just a test to see if you're worth coming to the REAL GamNeg HQ. You passed your first test."_

"Cut to the chase, Foretune!" Sonic interrupted. "What's your desire? Money? You sound like some greedy CEO after all!"

 _"Perhaps. But here is your first hint to finding GamNeg HQ. It's in a place you have passed many times during your little 'Investigation Team Meetings'. That is all for now, I still wait for you all…"_

The transmission was cut. Amy ruffled her quills.

"Ooh, he makes me so mad! I can't wait to give him 100 smashes to the face with my hammer!"

"I second that," Cream muttered.

"But did you hear the hint? A place that we passed various times?" Tails mused. "At least we have a new hint!"

"Yeah, but having to deal with the people that are gonna think we're domestic terrorists…" Sonic crossed his arms. "Yeah, that's gonna be a thing…"

"Forgot 'bout that…" Vector sighed. "Oh well, ain't the first time we've dealt with a huge crowd since the start of this crisis."

"Let's just leave. We have no reason to stay here," Shadow replied.

"Besides, this whole ordeal just gets weirder and weirder. I'd hate for the fourth dimension to break," Rouge added as the last comment. As the group took their leave, Vector rubbed his wrists.

 _"Staying in handcuffs for so long hurt…"_ He mused internally. He then looked at the chameleon, his new lover, and grinned.

"But man, why didn't we keep any of those cuffs?" Vector whispered to Espio. The chameleon turned red.

"E-excuse me?! You're already thinking about that?!" Espio sputtered.

"Eh heh heh… too early?... I'm sorry…" Vector hung his head.

"…besides, I'm more of a shibari person myself."

"A what. Uh, Espio... whatever that is, yer jokin'… right?... RIGHT?!"


	10. Chapter 10

**(AN: BREATHES HEAVILY KNOWING FORCES COMES JUST A FEW WEEKS**

 **But on that note, hello again! Well, October's almost over, I work Halloween (kill me), and school's hard. Trust me, I could have gotten this chapter out yesterday but my stupid laptop has been having an overheating problem and turning off.**

 **But it shouldn't stop this fic, now should it?)**

* * *

A delivery bike sped down the road of Station Square, making a right as it stopped in front of a street vendor. The bike, being driven by a GamNeg robot, hopped off his vehicle and opened a case at the back of the bike.

"Ah, the GamNeg robot! You must have my issues, yes?" The street vendor asked.

 _"Yes Mr. Walrus, we hope you enjoy this month's issue!"_ The robot replied before leaving the crate on the counter, walking back to his bike to make the next few deliveries.

How could no one enjoy this month's article? Foretune had written this big article himself: _"Big the Cat showing signs of being useful for once?!"_

 _"Everyone will buy it!"_ The robot laughed.

As the robot continued to drive, Knuckles and Shadow sat at a corner on the black hedgehog's motorcycle.

"GamNeg robot just drove by, guys," Knuckles said into a walkie-talkie. "Time we head out?"

 _"Of course. We went over the plan,"_ Tails replied.

"Well Shadow, if you may do the honors?"

Shadow nodded as he revved his motorcycle. He immediately took off, quickly following behind the GamNeg robot. The robot didn't take notice of this at first, simply driving off and coming up to yet another street vendor.

It was then that the robot turned around to see Knuckles and Shadow behind him. It audibly gawked.

"Now, Red!" Shadow yelled. Knuckles jumped off the motorcycle and onto the motorcycle of the robot.

"Think you can deliver huh? Think you can spread more lies, eh?!" The echidna said, wrapping his arms around the robot. The bot tried to swerve to get the echidna off, but the more he did so, the stronger Knuckles' grip got.

 _"Get off of me! I have to-argh!.. -deliver!"_ The robot yelled, now punching the red echidna. Though Knuckles was affected, it wasn't enough to get him off.

"I'll-ow!" Knuckles was cut off by a punch to the eye. "I'll let you deliver when you see what's in front of you!"

 _"Wha-"_

Knuckles jumped off the motorcycle as the robot and his bike crashed into a wall, causing an explosion. The robot was melting as the Examineer issues burnt to a crisp.

"I'll let you deliver in the inferno…" The echidna smirked. Shadow drove up next to him.

"That's four down," he reminded the other.

"Vector, Espio, how is things on your end?" Knuckles picked up the receiver.

 _"Yup, already see a bike comin' up to our fake stand,"_ Vector replied.

Over with the two reptiles, they sat by each other in front of a table selling magazines. Wearing disguises, their plan was to make the robots think that they were yet another stand selling Examineer copies, and then destroy them while still fooled.

"You ready, hun?" Espio asked, holding Vector's hand under the table.

"Ready as can be."

The robot drove up next to the two reptiles.

 _"Excuse me sirs, I couldn't help but notice you selling magazines there. Well, would you like to be interested in the Mobius Examineer?"_ It asked.

"Well gee! The Mobius Examineer? I never heard of such a thing!" Vector exclaimed, trying to make his best fake tone.

 _"You must be living under a rock sir! It's only the most high quality magazine in all of Mobius, dedicated to telling the truth, and nothing but the truth!"_

The two reptiles smirked at each other.

"Why, how interesting!" Espio said, trying to sound enthusiastic than he normally ever would be. "Perhaps my partner and I will take a few!"

 _"Why of course, sirs! Let me hand you some copies, and if you'd be so kind, I'll even leave you a subscription card so you can get more subscriptions to the Examineer!"_

The robot went to the back of his bike to gather copies. The crocodile nodded to his boyfriend.

In a flash, Espio threw a kunai knife straight clean into the back of the robot's neck. The robot simply sputtered out nonsense as it fell to the ground, deactivating.

"Nice job! Now let's get outta here!" Vector exclaimed, taking off his disguise.

"What about this table of magazines?!"

Vector had to think about that for a minute. In the end, he wrote a note that said "Take any for free!" on the table.

With that, the two reptiles ran hand in hand.

* * *

It wasn't just Knuckles and Shadow or Vector and Espio; the entire Investigation Team plotted ways to destroy robots all around the city. Tails splashed water from the sky on the Tornado to make the robots rust, Amy would pretend nice then smash them with her hammer at the last second, Sonic would beat them like he would with Eggman's robots, and Cream, Charmy and Rouge collaborated on a scheme involving the rabbit crying, pretending to be lost, bringing the attention of a GamNeg robot, only to destroy him.

Though they felt it was fool proof, that wasn't the case.

Back at GamNeg HQ, Foretune noticed that various robots are going off the radar.

"What the?! What's going on!" He yelled, splashing wine on his desk. Foretune pressed a button on his desk, the speaker by it buzzing to life. "Haola, get me Admiral JX-21!"

"A-admiral JX-21?!"

"Yes! You heard me! Do it! Sonic and his friends are destroying my robots! If they keep it up, we won't have enough Examineer copies printed out! And guess what will happen? YOU'LL lose your job!"

Haola sighed. "Very well, sir."

Minutes later, a robot wearing an admiral's outfit entered the room.

"How may I help you today, Mr. Foretune?"

"I'm sure you're very much away of the Sonic the Hedgehog crisis, no?"

"Of course. You rant about it every fortnight-"

"Enough! Now, you may remember… when I built you, I gave you a special mode called 'Rage Mode'. This was to only be activated in times of desperate need…"

"I understand…"

"Now, find Sonic and his friends, and make sure they are crushed by you!"

"I will not fail you, sir…"

* * *

"Job well done, guys! Foretune may keep building robots, but we'll keep destroying them until he gets the message!" Sonic said, high fiving his friends (sans Shadow of course). The Investigation Team sat at the Station Square Park's bench area, enjoying their day after destroying the GamNeg robots.

"Still, let's hope we don't get put on some domestic terrorist watch list or something," Amy said, holding her hammer behind her.

"We shouldn't. We're exposing the truth of GamNeg after all. Even if it is a bit unruly…" Espio replied.

"Unruly is right… but… I think being nice won't work here," Cream added. "Besides, it's not every day I get to do this."

"Pardon me," A voice suddenly said. The group turned to see a gopher man wearing some kind of military uniform.

"Uh… Amy? Remember what you said about being put on some terrorist watch list?" Charmy asked.

"Shh!"

"I must be so rude; would you happen to be Mr. Sonic the Hedgehog and his friends?"

"Yeah, what's up dude?"

"Ah, I'm glad to meet you! Don't worry; I won't bug you about that Examineer's painful articles. Trust me, I know how it feels to have a scandal. I once went through something like that 30 years ago… but alas! I'm going off topic. I just want to know how you are doing these days? The Examineer isn't bugging you, is it?"

The Investigation Team looked at each other. How could they explain to the man that moments prior, they were destroying GamNeg robots?

"Oh, they're… a bit annoyin'. But not too bad," Vector replied.

"Ah, I see! Well, I'm glad to see you're doing fine. Don't worry, I believe you're all innocent. In fact, let me buy you all something to drink."

"Oh, no sir, you don't have to," Tails replied, shaking his hands.

"Oh but I insist! It's the least I could do…"

"I don't mind taking the gift. It IS a bit hot today…" Rouge mulled.

"Good! Now, wait right here."

As Admiral JX-21 walked away, a sly grin on his face grew.

Moments later, the Admiral came back with water bottles. A smile was on his face as he handed them out to the Investigation Team.

"Now that I've done my deed, I'll take my leave. Have a good day, lads and gals!"

As the Admiral left, everyone except Shadow took a drink.

"Ahh, that hits the spot…" Knuckles said.

"Nice 'n cold… perfect fer a hot day like this," Vector added.

"Hm? Not gonna drink, faker?" Sonic asked.

"I thought you'd stop calling me that. And… I don't know… something about this bottle seems… off," The black hedgehog replies.

"Well, suit yourself. C'mon guys, let's-"

Just as the hedgehog got up, he held his stomach.

"Sonic?!" Amy screamed.

"Are you okay?!" Tails asked. "You made this exact same move when you transformed into a Werehog. Surely you don't have Dark Gaia energy in you?"

Then, Charmy groaned.

"My stomach hurts, Vector and Espio…" He whined.

"I'm sure it's your imagination-hrk!" Vector suddenly winced, holding his mouth. "N-no! I feel it sick too!"

Cream was next. "What's happening?!" She cried, the pain too much for the little rabbit.

"What's going on?!" Shadow replied. He quickly opened his bottle and sniffed. "This water has a… smell to it!"

"Give me… argh!- That!" Rouge said, getting sick too. She took a sniff of the bottle. "P-poison…"

"Poison?!"

"Poisoned water meant to knock out-"

Then Rouge collapsed. Followed by Tails, then Charmy, then Espio.

"That Admiral! He tricked us and tried to knock us out! Where is he-"

It was then that Shadow was hit in the back of the head with something blunt. The ebony hedgehog fell to the ground.

"Damn… you…"

"Oh Shadow, getting slower are we? Don't worry, just go to sleep…"

* * *

 **SOMETIME LATER…**

Vector awoke to his stomach in pain, and the feeling of wooziness. The crocodile struggled to get up, his muscles aching.

"Guys?" He called out.

The crocodile couldn't tell where he was. His eyes were too droopy, and unable to adjust to the darkness.

Stumbling a bit, Vector looked around to hope someone was nearby.

"Espio?" He called out. "Where yeh at, hun?"

No response.

Vector sucked his teeth. Before he could worry about anything, he needed to get out of wherever he was.

"But what was I even doin'?" He mused to himself, holding his head.

"Okay okay, lemme recap. We were in the park, some admiral dude came by, gave us some water, mah stomach hurt, Shadow and Rouge were sayin' somethin' 'bout it bein' poisoned…"

It was then that the door opened.

 _"Ah… so you're awake."_

Vector turned to see where the voice came from, and right in front of his face was the lifeless Admiral. His face was stitched up, his eyes closed, and no expression was on his face as he simply stood still. The crocodile screamed as he tumbled to the floor.

"W-who are ya?!"

 _"I'm surprised you were able to wake up before any of your friends on the floor. But I haven't answered your question have I? I am Admiral JX-21, the personal admiral of Mr. Foretune."_

"F-foretune?! So… what do ya want?"

 _"I was given a task by Mr. Foretune himself. He isn't enjoying how your little 'team' is going to destroy his business."_

"Oh, his business? Well, tell him this: it must suck so much to not have a little bit of money, when people like me 'n the people I love more than anyone else in the world…" Vector stared at the motionless body of Espio and Charmy. "…don't have anythin' to put on the table!"

 _"That's not my problem. You WILL end your endeavors now… unless you think you can stop me."_

"Think? Oh no, I WILL stop yeh!"

Vector ran up to Admiral JX-21, attempting to punch him. The crocodile was however, stopped. The Admiral grabbed his fist, stopping him mid-way.

 _"You're weaker than you think."_

The Admiral threw the crocodile to the wall. This in turn, woke the group up, despite their grogginess.

"W-where are we?!" questioned Amy, moaning as she tried to collect herself.

 _"Ah, it seems the foolish fools that spread foolish lies that only a fool would foolishly believe is now awake…"_ The Admiral mused. He waited for the group to get up, waiting for this 'team' to have full energy to fight before he activated rage made.

"Y-you!" Espio pointed. "You're the man that poisoned us!"

 _"The robot."_

"Ro… then you are from Foretune!" Tails yelled, holding his aching head.

 _"I'm glad that you have figured out. But now, it is time for eradication."_

"Like hell it is!" Shadow growled.

"Wait… where's Vector?!" Espio yelled.

 _"Your crocodile lover is over there. But I wouldn't try playing hero, because you'll just set yourself up to be destroyed…"_

"What did you do to him?!"

 _"The man is still alive. Just… he tried to go against me so I did what I would do if someone tries to go against me."_

"We'll get out of this place soon!" Cream said.

"And I'm gonna start with this escape!" The ebony hedgehog pulled out a Chaos Emerald. "Chaos Control!"

Disappearing, Shadow appeared behind the Admiral and kicked..

…only for Admiral JX-21 to dodge.

"What?!"

The Admiral chuckled. _"Poor Shadow… unaware that you all are useless here. At last, it is time! Foretune, your new mode has finally come to use!"_

Admiral JX-21 pressed the button on his back.

 _"To think… rage mode begins now!"_

"Rage mode?" Rouge questioned.

 _"You think you 'kicked my ass' huh? You think you've won? You haven't seen powers like… like… ARGH!"_

The robot begun to transform as black mist oozed out from him. He floated in the air as his body deformed and contrasted.

"What's this rage mode?!" Knuckles questioned.

"Whatever it is, knucklehead, it ain't good!" Sonic replied.

In the time of his transformation, Espio and Charmy were able to find Vector passed out on the ground. The chameleon held his boyfriend, shaking him slightly.

"Please Vector… wake up soon…" He mulled. The fuschia reptile looked up to see the transformation of the Admiral, the bee and the reptile realizing that something was about to go down.

"We'll worry about Vector later, Charmy. For now, there's a new enemy we have to focus on," Espio said.

"I know! He's gonna pay for what he did to Vector!" The bee exclaimed.

With his transformation finished, Admiral JX-21 crashed onto the floor on all floors. His wide, massive body crushed and collapsed the walls around him.

 ** _"DO YOU SEE WHAT I'VE BECOME? FORETUNE CREATED ME AS THE ULTIMATE ROBOT… HE HAS NO INTEREST IN NEGOTITAION, NO INTEREST IN STOPPING, NOTHING! WHY? WHY DO YOU FLESHLINGS GET IN THE WAY?!"_** The Admiral bellowed in a deep tone.

"Cause that stuff ain't true! And we're going to expose the truth!" Sonic said.

"That's right! We've had enough of your lies!" Amy added.

"That's why… we're finding the truth," Rouge said.

 ** _"FO…FOOLS… THE TRUTH ONLY GETS ONE SO FAR… WOULDN'T IT BE LOVELY TO LIVE A WORLD OF LIES? THIS LIE… IT ONLY LETS YOU BE REMEMBERED BY EVERYONE. WITH THE PEACE AND QUIET, YOU ALL WERE FORGOTTEN…"_**

"Cut the crap!" Knuckles pointed. "We're gonna defeat you!"

"Yeh a-and… Foretune… are gonna go down!"

A slurred voice rung out through the destroyed room.

"Vector?!" Espio gasped. "You're okay?!"

"Of… course… heh heh…"

The crocodile slowly got up, grinning as he held his arm.

 ** _"ALIVE, ARE WE MR. VECTOR? I DON'T UNDERSTAND… WHY DO YOU CONTINUTE TO LIVE?"_**

"Why… do yeh continue to keep flappin' yer mouth!"

With another roar, the robot grew more limbs from its body.

"I think you made it mad, Vector!" Charmy yelled.

"Ya dun think… I know that?!"

"Have any ideas how to beat this thing?!" Tails questioned.

"I say just go for it! There's nothing to this thing after all!" Knuckles replied. The echidna ran up to the robot and striked at the robot.

 ** _"Ẉ̭̫̌̄̌̽̅ͪ̚ͅH̠̺̙̪͜Y͍͈͓̳͉̭̝ͮ͌?̟̥̙͇̲!̆҉͉͖͍͍ ̤̄ͧͥͭ͑̒̄W̺͉̦̘͕̊͋̾H͈̪͚̹͔ͧͮ̚Yͦ͊ ̯͍͕͎͓̠́Ď̘̗̪̩̥̣̋̚O̘̣͒̎ ͚̦̈ͥ̋ͤ̽̽̾Y̤ͨͥ̏ͯͦ̽O̡͍U͙̪̘̒̋ ̭ͅC͓̟̠͑̌̓̿̏ͩO͒ͨ̂́ͩN̫̮͓̝͚̫T̜̱̎̇ͤI̘̙̙̱̒̅ͫ͌͊̉ͮN̷̗̬̪͚̲̗̉Ũ̪̽̈͞Ȩ͔̗͉̗̺̤ͪͥͥ ͘T̞̬̻̻̎ͣ̎ͅO͚̳͇̻̓̑̊̄ͥͬ̃ ̼͋ͯ͞ͅR̢̬̬̗̪̲̬̙̅E͉̖͇̰S̱̬͖ͧ̌ͦ̈́̚͜I̕Sͫ͗͋̉͆̄Ṱ̜̦͓̳̖̮?̗̙̟̲̰̦̭̋!̷͖͙ͤ̾̄͊"_**

The voice of the robot scared Cream, the rabbit held Cheese tightly as her face showed fear.

"Don't worry. You're not only doing this for us, but for you and your mother," Shadow said, putting his hand on the rabbit's shoulder. "She wouldn't want you to cry, would she?"

"She said I could shed as many tears as possible…"

"Go ahead. But remember… you have a duty to attend."

Cream softly smiled at the black hedgehog, wiping her tears.

"Cheese, are you ready?"

"Chao chao!"

Meanwhile, Sonic, Tails, Amy, Shadow, and Rouge were busy attacking the robot. Though there was no weak point, the robot was formidable.

Striking at the shell with a wrench, Tails grabbed Amy, floating in the air.

"Now's your time to strike!" The fox said, flying past the robot. Attempting to strike at them, the pink hedgehog smashed her hammer into the robot's head.

Just as Rouge was about to strike the robot's chest with her heel, the sound of an amplifier tuning up was heard.

"What the?"

Everyone turned to the noise to see the Chaotix with full music set up, complete microphones and speakers.

"WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?!" Rouge screamed.

"Where did you get that?!" Knuckles questioned.

"It's the Chaotix, after all!" Tails replied. "It's uhh… well in their name?"

"You're not wrong there," Shadow commented.

"HEY! ADMIRAL DUDEFACE!" Charmy said into the microphone.

"Seems like yer not gettin' this idea that yeh need to know the truth!" Vector pointed at the robot. "Well, we've got a song fer yeh!"

"It's a very… incomplete song. But we hope you do enjoy," Espio said lastly into the microphone. He held his shamisen tightly, strumming it.

"ARE YOU READY TO ROCKKKKKK?!" Charmy screamed.

No one said anything until the robot flailed around.

 ** _"W̙̟ͥͥ̐̂ͪͦ̆́ͅHA̭̣̥̺͍̗͙ͫ͐T̹ͨͦ̀ͤ̎͊ ̩̬̟̭̬͚̗ͦͩͩ̑̈͛I̮̊S̢͎̿ ̶ͬ̚T̵̳̯̫̖̎̆̊͆̊̑̀H̯͇̋ͥͩ̚Ỉ̠S͓̣̔̈́͢ͅ?ͤ͏!ͨ̄͌͊ͯ͏͖̭ ̛͖̥̝̭̟͓̙͆ͧͤH̱̲̘̖͆̀͆͊O̠̰͈̺̪̬͋͐̌̇̐͊W̬̱̫̋͌̏ ̦̤̺͈̺̈́͌̎́̚ͅͅD͏͎̞͉̘Ā̛̲̥͖̲̘̝R̷̻̞ͪ̋ͬͦ͌E͎͕̽͗ ̪̳̥̂͒̾̽͌ͮÝ̷̥ͥ́͛̐Ọ̮͕̤̻ͣ̏̓̆̃ͪU̖̬͒ ̲̳W̫̝̮͇̝̪͛ͮĨ̺̺̪̙̻S̝̳̰̩͈̥̪͋́͑̾͛ͣ͞H̠̫̹̥̪͐ͣ̀́ ̺͉̓ͭ̃T̍̂̒̐̿̉̉͠O̧̬͚͖ͣ̐̾͂̈́̽̑ ̮̮̱̹̫̿̉͛̅̄̂ͬͅD̙̝̱̝͖̖͑͌̿̀Í̐̍̅͏̻̦̮͎͔̳S̗͖͓̮̘̱̰ͤ͋̀ͧͨ̕T͉̤̼̆͐ͅR͕̻ͣͮͣ͊A̎͐C̶̞̦̝T̻̜͖͎͍̞̓͋̈ ̲͕̰̝̓̓̒͌W͙̥͚ͩ̾̐̀̎ͦ̓I̳̙͉̳͍̼̘T͓̭͈͙̺͐̆̍̏ͩ̓͂H̭̘͉͎͛̿̓̚̚ ̮͍͙̣̺̈̑S̤̒̏ͯͯͅŲ͍C̘̉͌̃͑͟H̰ ̻̻͙͎̟ͩ͂͒̈͆̈́͐ͅͅV͈̲̮̺̦I͔̘̥̥͎͎̣͐ͤͦ̑ͩL̸Ė̬̯̽́̏ͮ!̤̖̖̉̑ͫ͊ͧ̈́!͍̪̤̰̙͓ͯͭ"_** The admiral said. He smashed into the walls, the daylight from outside shining. Vector winced.

"Okay, MAYBE I'm starting to regret this," He said.

"This was your idea!" Espio hissed.

"I wasn't expectin' him to do that!"

"So did we not practice for a reason?" Charmy asked.

"Yes."

"Well, we have all this set up. We might as well do this."

"Eh, we're gonna ruin a lot of eardrums with this."

Vector took a deep breath and yelled into the microphone, attempting to 'sing'. Charmy played his little snare drum and Espio played his shamisen.

 ** _"S̢͎̗̯͍̓T̫̈ͧO͊̉̌̀ͤ͂̚Pͪ̌̓ͮͨ̇͠ ̜̩̤͇̪͚̈̇̍̾̐͡T̰͈̾̿́H̙̟̜̘͊͛̀I͇͎̞̳̥̮͈̿S̴͎ͩͩ̎ͥ̂!̖̠̩̲̫̮̳ ̶̞̯̝̲͖͗͑S̗̼̖̣̩̋T̰̭̩̰̥ͫ̕O̳̺͆P̡̰͈̝̗͔ͫ̎̉̂͌ ̘͕̬̪̲̀͆ͨ̇͌̃͑Ş̜̣̫̫͓͇ͭI̧̔Ņ̬̫̖̜͔́̑͛G̷̞ͯ̓I̷̫͖̪̮̽ͦͫ̽ͨN̳̺̩̺̰̬̭̍͆̍̍̐ͥ̎Ğ̣͋̋̉!̶̦̟̜̻͂͐ͨͅ!̶̫̫̹̠͎̎"_**

The rest of the Investigation Team got out of the way as the robot destroyed more and more of the walls collapsed.

"GO HARDER! LOUDER! IT'S DESTROYIN' HIM!" Vector yelled in between singing.

The vibrations from the bass got so intense; it shook the floor, and the ruined remains of the wall.

Finally, the song came to an end. Admiral JX-21 flailed around, stepping back into the destroyed wall.

And then, he deactivated.

Huh?" Tails asked, rubbing his ear to hear clearly again.

"What the?" Sonic added.

Then, a voice boomed from the robot.

 _"Enough, enough!"_ Foretune pleaded. _"The more you kept the Admiral crashing, he would have destroyed that building! And I need you alive. I haven't tortured you enough…"_

"I thought it was you who said you'd still write about us even if we died! Gonna drop the tough guy act now?!" Knuckles questioned.

 _"I'd shut your mouth where you stand, Echidna! I realize that you all won't give up with this, and sooner or later, you'll dry me out of robots. And that won't be fun, will it? So I give you a compromise. I'll stop, but you WILL meet me soon at GamNeg HQ. Do you wish to know where it is? Well, look outside and around at the buildings. Because I see you…"_

The Investigation Team looked outside to not only see people looking at them from the ground, but at the buildings around them like Foretune said.

Then, they saw him. A block down, they saw a familiar pheasant, staring down at them and grinning wide.

 _"I can't wait to meet you all soon…"_

The transmission ended.

"Let's go after him!-" Sonic said, before being cut off.

"No, Sonic," Vector replied. "We're not ready yet."

"What do you mean not ready?!"

"Vector's right. We're in no shape to take on GamNeg. We have no idea what he has planned," Amy said.

"If we die, who will learn the truth?" Shadow asked.

"Defeating him is our top priority first," Rouge added. "And besides, I think THEY want to deal with us first."

The Team looked down to see that police and other personnel were parked by the building.

"THE COPS?!" Vector gawked. "Whadda we do know?!"

"Hold on! I'll get the Tornado! I can call it using its autopilot mechanism!" Tails replied, tapping his wristwatch.

"Hurry, Tails! I'm scared!" Cream cried.

The door began to pound.

"POLICE! WE KNOW YOU'RE IN THERE!"

Just then, the Tornado flew by the open hole. Everyone got on, the two tailed fox flying away as the police opened the door. They could hear their gawks at the robot on the floor, wondering why it was here.

"That was close…" Sonic said.

"Tomorrow… we HAVE to get GamNeg…" Espio said.

"We'll do it…" Vector replied. Under all the seats, he took his boyfriend's hand. "…together."


	11. Chapter 11

**(AN: Hi everyone. Sorry for this being a bit late. I'm gonna be honest, my motivation and happiness has been going down the drain thanks to work and school. I'm having a hard time focusing on even writing now, and honestly I didn't think it would come to this. But, I promised that I'd try to have updates be constant, so here we are.**

 **Anyway, I have to go to work in a few minutes so just enjoy this chapter.**

 **Also cAN WE GET THAT FORCES HYPE?)**

* * *

 **THE NEXT DAY**

Espio stood in the kitchen, cooking breakfast. He dipped his finger into the sauce cooking in the pan, taste testing it.

"Hmm… it's not sour. Looks like I followed the recipe good."

The chameleon was cooking a dish that claimed itself to be 'hearty' and 'gives one energy in the morning'. He hoped it would sit well his boyfriend and Charmy. Though he was sure the crocodile could eat it, the bee was still in his picky eater stage of life.

"Oi… what's cookin'?" Vector murmured as he walked into the kitchen.

"Oh, good morning, hun. I found something online on one of your devices. It's said to give you energy in the morning."

"Probably still won't beat coffee…" Vector opened up the pantry. "So, today's the day eh?"

"To think we'll be finally taking down Foretune and exposing himself for what he truly is. We've waited too long for this."

"What if we get paid fer this. It'll be sweeeeet!" The green reptile clapped his hands together.

"I wouldn't cross my fingers, but that would be nice."

As Vector prepared his morning coffee, he walked to where his boyfriend stood.

"Mind if I try?"

"Sure, go ahead."

Vector now dipped his finger into the sauce for a taste test. He licked his finger, and nodded.

"Pretty good but- woo!" The crocodile suddenly raised. "Man that's strong!"

"I'm just hoping Charmy enjoys it. You know how he is."

"Well, it ain't pizza or honey… but at the same time there's no vegetables so we'll have to see."

"He'll be missing out."

"Exactly, with good food like this yer missin' out whenever ya don't eat it. But what am I sayin'? Yer the best cook I know."

"Thank you for the flattery," The fuchsia reptile turned back to the pan.

"But of course, yer still mah favorite snack~," Vector nibbled the side of Espio's face.

"Awh, hun…" Espio could feel warmth going up his spine, enjoying the little affection of love the crocodile gave.

"I was wondering…" Vector put his arms around Espio's neck. "Do ya think we should tell the gang 'bout us?"

"Well, I think we should wait until this whole thing is over. Then we can tell them. If the Examineer really does find out about this…"

"…we're all done for?"

The two reptiles turned to the voice who spoke, which turned out to be Charmy. The bee was without his helmet, but what was more noticeable was that he was staring at the two.

"Vector? Espio? Are you guys…?"

"Ack! No, no no no we're not!" Vector shook his hands violently. "We're just mild mannered good friends it's all!"

"Vector, we can explain this to Charmy. I think you're old enough to understand, right?"

The bee nodded.

"Yes… me and Vector are really dating."

"Just like the article says?"

"Well… we started dating after the publication of that article. I think that the article is the reason we're together. It helped us realize our true feelings for each other."

"Oh… I see! So um… am I gonna have a little brother and are you gonna be all lovey dovey and are you guys gonna start calling yourself things like honey or cinnamon apple or-"

"Charmy! Calm," Vector said. "Since we know yer a kid and at yer age, romance is gross and icky, we promise we won't do it around yeh."

"I mean… I don't mind… I think it's okay when it's you two!"

"Aw, that's sweet. Well, alright. I'm glad we got this settled. But uh, as for the little brother comment: we already have a hard time puttin' food on the table. Let's not put ourselves into a bigger hole."

"Oh… anyway, Espio, what cereal do we have left?"

"Actually, I made something this morning. I do hope you like it, I know how picky you can be," The chameleon replied. "It's healthy and gives you energy."

"Healthy? Oh no, it probably has every vegetable and fruit under the sun and tastes gross!"

"Trust me, if it had EVERY one, we would have sold our house to get them. Now don't complain, we need as much energy as we can get, today. Sit down and Vector will serve some milk."

"Look, yer gonna like it, Charmy. And if ya don't, how else are yeh gonna beat Foretune?" Vector asked.

"Oh alright…" The bee replied.

* * *

After breakfast, the three made their way to Tails' workshop. Everyone on the train to the Mystic Ruins had flames in their eyes, still holding their grudges against them for wanting to 'destroy' the Mobius Examineer.

"Speaking of the Examineer, when will these people think that reading the Examineer in front of us isn't going to make us change our mind?" Espio asked.

"The same day Dr. Eggman decides to be a good person for once," Vector replied.

"You know… speaking of Eggman… I just realized something… haven't you noticed that none of the articles featured in the Examineer is about Eggman?"

"That's because at least Eggman has the decency to mark himself as 'evil', unlike you guys!" Someone yelled.

"Yeah! Why don't you go blow up and destroy more GamNeg stuff just because your feefees are hurt?!"

"Feefees? What in the name of Chaos?..." Espio muttered.

 _"The train to the Mystic Ruins is about to stop. Please gather all belongings. Our next stop is Casino Night… Next stop, Casino Night…"_

"Let's go before my brain cells die," Charmy snarkly commented.

"Charmy! I told you being sarcastic isn't always what you should do!" Espio scolded.

"I think he's learned the best from yours truly." Vector grinned.

"Yeah you're sleeping on the couch tonight."

"H-hey!"

As the three got off the train, they headed towards Tails' workshop, where the rest of the Investigation Team was.

"Hey there, guys!" Sonic said. "Thought you were gonna be late."

"We're never late," Vector replied. "Besides, everythin' to yeh is always late, Sonic. The train, any kind of public transportation, your fifth chili dog…"

"Our wedding…" Amy muttered under her breath.

"So what's the agenda?"

"Isn't it obvious? To take down Foretune!" Rouge said in a mocking tone.

"Well duh, just, how are we gonna go 'bout doin' this?"

Tails walked over to his desk as everyone crowded around. "Thanks to a drone I flew, I was able to get into the building and see the layout. From there, I drew out this map," The fox brought out blueprints. "So, we need to enter through the door on the third floor in the balcony like area, then sneaking carefully, we make our way to Foretune by taking the stairs. We need to be quiet during this part so people don't check it out. Should someone come, take the closest exit and find a hiding place until it's safe."

"Such an interesting mission with espionage!" Cream stated.

"Wow, where'd you learn that word, Cream?" Sonic asked.

"Mom taught me. I asked her about Mr. Espio."

The chameleon couldn't help but smile. _"Oh you dear Ms. Vanilla you…"_

"What happens if we get caught?" Amy asked.

"Beat the daylights outta them!" Knuckles replied.

"We should try to avoid physical altercations here-" Tails spoke.

"Nope, I'm with Knux. I'm all fer it," Vector replied.

"I'll only say this: they'll get what they deserve," Shadow added finally, arms still crossed.

"Okay, there goes that plan. Fine, beat the heck outta them. I'm just SAYING it's not the world's best idea…"

"Is there anything else?" Charmy asked.

"That's about the blunt of it. Now, just like last time, we need to don disguises so no one recognizes us."

"Figured as such," Vector commented.

"We got harassed on the train coming here," Espio added. "It seems it's becoming common for all of us walking around anywhere on Mobius."

"Well guys, I found the solution! I managed to pick out some outfits that should disguise us!" Amy said, walking over to a clothes rack with assortments of clothing on it.

"Amy… how much did you spend on all of that?!" Sonic questioned.

"Oh, I bought this all at the thrift store. It's not super expensive stuff," The pink hedgehog replied.

"Okay, cause I was gonna say… yer not helpin' yer case when it comes to the Examineer sayin' yer obsessed with clothes…" The crocodile commented.

"I heard that! I'll have you know I spent only $30 on all this stuff!"

"Okay okay… geez…"

"Do we have to wear this nonsense in the first place? I don't care what people say about me…" Shadow brooded.

"I think we need to avoid a riot. People are out for our blood after all. Just last night people were carrying torches and chanting loudly outside my workshop. I couldn't even fall asleep!" Tails replied.

"Okay okay, are we going or not?!" Knuckles exclaimed.

"Mr. Knuckles is right. We need to do this as quickly as possible. I want this to be over…" Cream added. She walked over to the rack and pulled out some kind of costume with a mask.

"What is this, Halloween?" Shadow asked.

"Oh come on! I knew I should have brought my costume from last year!" Charmy snapped his fingers.

"I don't think people would look at us normally if you did that, Charmy…" Espio replied.

"Aw…"

Vector walked over to the rack and pulled out a heavy coat of sorts and a hat.

"It's like I'm a dad out of those terrible old sitcoms!" He said.

"You mean the ones where the kids are referred as scamps, the mother is stay at home, and the father has a 9 to 5 office job and complaining about work at the office?" The chameleon said.

"Exactly! I kinda think mah life is like that anyway."

"I'm not stay at home- wait a minute!"

"Heh heh heh… I'm still the same person…"

Turning his head to see that their friends were getting their disguise, he whispered, _"…even though I'm datin' yeh."_

Espio shook his head playfully, walking over to the clothing rack as Vector put on his disguise.

* * *

The Investigation Team sat on the train to downtown of Station Square. Sure enough, they were getting looks from everyone.

"At least they don't suspect us of anything…" said Rouge, wearing a pair of funny glasses. "Chaos… this is embarrassing. I thought you got us good disguises, not… stuff like this, Amy!"

"I would much rather be made fun of than called a terrorist over and over again," The pink hedgehog replied.

"Fair enough."

 _"The train to Downtown Station Square is about to stop. Please gather all belongings. Our next stop is the Gateway Bridge… next stop, Gateway Bridge…"_

The team got up from their seats and walked off the train, making their way into downtown Station Square. As they walked, they could hear the whispers and voices of the people around them.

 _"What the heck are they doing?"_

 _"Is it October already?"_

 _"He he he! What losers!"_

 _"They look so childish!"_

"Just ignore them…" Espio muttered. "We're here to beat Foretune, not to worry about people like this…"

Looking to the side, the chameleon could see the building that he and his friends were taken to yesterday. The damage was still visible, and police tape surrounded the building and the floor in which the battle took place. Almost ironically, one of Foretune's robots was selling Mobius Examineer magazines right by a sign that blamed them for the case.

"Paid by the GamNeg Inc- okay, that perfectly explains it."

The group looked at the building above. This was it: GamNeg HQ.

"Ready guys?" Sonic asked.

"Ready doesn't describe it. Let's go," Vector replied. Rouge opened the door and let everyone inside. Just as Cream was the last person to enter, the door suddenly sealed shut, and a wall covered it.

"What the?!" Knuckles questioned.

"I guess we can't turn back now," Espio said.

"B-but… what if we aren't ready?!" Charmy asked.

"We're ready, kid. It's just, is Foretune the same way?" Sonic replied.

"We'll just have to find the man himself. Finally… it all comes down to this!" Shadow said. "…but first, can we take off this ridiculous disguises?!"

"I don't see any reason not to," Espio replied, taking off his disguise. Everyone else followed suit.

Making their way through the decrepit building, the team looked inside the rooms. Though this building seemed to look new from the outside, dust and trash littered the inside.

"It's almost like this place hasn't been used for years," Knuckles commented.

"That's odd though. When I was checking it out earlier, it was very clean, neat, and it… looked nothing like this," Tails replied. "There's no way it could change!"

Charmy examined some of the walls, sliding his fingers across it.

"Charmy! What did we tell you about touching stuff that isn't yours?" Espio scolded.

"Sorry…"

Walking along the halls, the sounds of some kind of printer echoed through the walls of the decrepit building.

"You hear that?" Amy asked.

"I'm kinda scared…" Cream said, holding Cheese close.

Following the noise, a shut door lay in front of the Investigation Team. They looked at the wooden door, wondering what its contents could contain. Was it really just a printer on the other side, or was there more to this?...

"I will examine it. I can turn invisible after all," Espio said. The chameleon walked up to the door and gently opened up the handle. Sure enough, in the middle of the dusty room was a brand new printer. It seemed to printing out various sheets of paper at a time. Espio made his way to printer, examining each part of it.

It was then that he noticed what exactly WAS on the paper. In large black text read, _"FOOLS"_.

"He tricked us again…" Espio said, grabbing the paper. He showed it to his friends, who had a stunned reaction.

"So what does this mean?"

"It means this is all just a façade. This is really what GamNeg HQ looks like… the neat little building I saw? It was all a fake…" Tails realized.

"I think this represents something. The truth is not what it always seems. Ironic… truth is something that has occurred with this incident since it started," Rouge said.

"What is truth? I think even we lost the meaning of truth throughout this event," Shadow added.

"Hey! It's printing again!" Charmy said. Espio walked back to the printer and picked up the piece of paper that was now printer.

"It says… truth is false… a world of lies is a much better world to live in, right? It helps us forget our inner struggles, the people who keep us down, lets us enjoy hearing stories and being around others regardless of validity, and lets us enjoy life even if we fake it," The fuchsia reptile read.

"What's in Foretune's mind anyway?!" Vector questioned.

"That man is bonkers…" Amy shook her head.

Just then, a noise sounded throughout the building.

"What was that?!" Cream questioned. "It came from upstairs!"

"Let's check it out!"

The group made their way up the stairs. When they did, the first horror filled sight hit them like a freight train: the bodies of robots lay across the ground. They were eyeless and destroyed from limb to limb.

"What the?..." Knuckles muttered. Vector grabbed one of the mutilated limbs, examining it.

"Hmm… something took this out. They didn't get destroyed."

And then, the crying began.

"What's up with all these weird noises today?" Rouge asked. Once again, the group gave chase towards the source of the noise. This time, the door was far more beaten down. Cracks were all over the door as well as scratch marks. The bat opened the door to reveal Foretune, sitting by himself in the middle of the room as ripped up Examineer issues surrounded him.

"Huh? Foretune?" Vector asked.

"O-oh... it's you guys aga-again,... No w-worries... I t-think I''ve had e-enough of this pathetic ma-magazine..." The pheasant sobbed, turning to face the Investigation Team.

"Are you lying to us?" Shadow questioned.

"Money and wealth? What kind of lifestyle is this? I'm sick of it. I si-simply just thought of thi-this as a get rich quick scheme, but now I truly am d…destroying lives..."

"Mr. Foretune…" Cream said.

"What's with the face turn heel?" Rouge asked. "And where does this leave you?"

"…for dead. I'm destroying the robots too atone fo-for what I did... if you want to do the same to m-me, I give you full permission..."

Knuckled raised up his fists. "Well, if you insist…"

It was then that Espio snapped his head at the echidna walking towards the bird.

"KNUCKLES, NO!"

"FOOLS!"

Foretune got up and charged at Knuckles, who…

…didn't react.

"What the?" The echidna asked. "Hey, where'd he go?!"

"He's gone! We saw him too!" Charmy exclaimed.

 _"Hu hu hu… have you all failed to realize what truth is? You believe you stood in GamNeg HQ… only to find yourselves in an abandoned building…"_ A voice rung out.

"Foretune!"

"The real one this time!"

 _"Why are you all so obsessed with me? Couldn't you just give up, go home, and let this little thing die out? Isn't that how fads work?"_

"Listne here, we've had ENOUGH of yer crap! Ya said we were worthy, where the heck is GamNeg HQ?!" Vector yelled.

 _"…if I did… then our little game would end."_

"What game?!"

 _"You may be worthy, sure. But I still love to mess with your mind. Let you see things that you would never see. Isn't that the beauty of this world? Where we can still believe lies and manipulate others to see the same lies too?"_

"So you're saying this entire ordeal is one giant piece of symbolism?" Shadow asked.

 _"Exactly. It's a little bit of what we call dramatic irony. How does it feel? How does it feel being renowned heroes? Now how does it feel to have the whole world turn against you? All over some tabloid!"_

"I say we keep searching for the truth, regardless!" Sonic replied.

"Yeah!" Every said in unison.

 _"So… refusal to back down… how foolish… foolish foolish foolish. Okay then, how about this: I'll take you to the TRUE real GamNeg HQ, but only if…"_

"Only if?"

 _"…You escape this building of illusion."_

The walls went bitch black as a countdown was on every wall and floor.

"Escape?! Illusion?!" Tails questioned.

"Oh, I'm outta here!" Sonic said, speeding out. Shadow followed suit.

"Hey, wait up!"

As everyone made their way out of the room, the pitch black rooms made it hard to see anything.

 _"4:32… 4:31.."_

"Whaddya think he means by illusion?" Vector yelled to Espio.

"I don't know! I think he means that if we're still in the building by the time the timer finished, then we disappear too!"

"WHAT IS UP WITH THAT FORETUNE!"

Everyone became more panicked as they ran. In their desperation, Amy fell down the steps due to low visibility.

"Amy! Are you okay?!" Knuckles questioned.

"I'm… ohh! F-fine! It just hurts…" She moaned.

The echidna looked at the wall to see the timer. "2:59…2:58…"

Vector suddenly grabbed her. "We'll try to get Amy patched up before we head to face off Foretune. Now c'mon!"

As they continued to run, Espio tugged on Vector's arm. He whispered, _"Look at you, such a good man to help her out. This is why I love you…"_

 _"It's the right thing to do,"_ The crocodile winked.

Soon after, by the time the countdown was at the one minute mark, the rest of the Investigation Team reached the entrance they remembered. It was then that they saw Sonic and Shadow.

"Guys? What happened?" Charmy asked.

"We can't get the door open…" Shadow growled.

"Amy?! What happened?!" Sonic questioned, running up to his friend.

"She fell down the stairs. She's breathin', but she might be hurt," Vector replied.

Sonic's fists shook. "Foretune… you don't mess with my friends like this!" He punched the wall, hoping to make a dent.

…however, it did nothing.

 _"1:34… 1:33…"_

"We don't have much time!" Cream exclaimed. "We need to find the way out!"

"Ugh… I'm trying to think…" Rouge scratched her chin. "Okay, we need to attack this at the same time. Remember? The wall shot up when we got in here. Which means the wall is still there."

Espio pulled out a kunai knife. "I got this."

The chameleon ran to the wall as he began to stab the wall. Chips from the wall came out as the stabbing continued.

"Geez, Espio! You could be a serial killer!" Charmy joked.

"Charmy! We have no time for jokes!" Espio yelled.

 _"53… 52…"_

"Not even a minute left!"

Vector looked at Sonic. "Here, I'll help out. Take Amy fer a minute."

The crocodile handed the blue hedgehog Amy. Then, he digged his fingers into the wall, ripping it off. The reptiles could see light, meaning they were getting close.

"40… 39…."

The Investigation Team stood around, worried about the timer. The two continued to rip at the wall, more and more light seeping through.

Tails looked up at the ceiling, realizing that it was melting away right in front of them.

"UH, YOU GUYS!" He whimpered out.

Vector punched the wall, a large gaping hole in clear view. With less than 30 seconds on the clock, everyone got out of the disappearing building just in time to watch it vanish from their eyes. Everyone took a deep breath, wondering what truly was going on.

"This… this is freaking crazy…" Sonic put his hand on his chest.

"Sonic, we're getting stares and boos," Amy reminded him.

"Extra! Extra! Foretune P. Milliarde invites Sonic the Hedgehog and friends to his private mansion!" A paper boy suddenly screamed out, running down the street. Before anyone could say anything, a limo drove up to the Investigation Team. Multiple suited robots got out of the car, slamming the door behind them.

"Mr. Sonic the Hedgehog and co.? By the request of his master, Foretune P. Milliarde, you have been invited to the mansion of the master himself," One of them said.

"What about GamNeg HQ?!" Vector questioned.

"This… this is GamNeg HQ."

"Sonic, don't do it!" Espio said. "It may be a trap."

"Maybe so. But I'm a guy who lives for adventure. We got this," Sonic winked. "Okay robo dudes, take me to Foretune."

"Very well…"

The robots opened the doors for the team, allowing them inside. The Chaotix got into the second section, staring ahead at the velvet chairs in front of them. Vector took Espio's hand.

"It's time fer real…"

The chameleon nodded.

After everyone got inside, the limo started and began to drive away, the heckling pedestrians voices drowned by the engine of the limo.


	12. Chapter 12

**(AN: Hey all, it's me. I just want to say I am SO sorry. I really am. I wanted to get this out way earlier than possible. But work and school continues to drain me. Honestly, I'm surprised I got this out as I did. Well, it's almost time for me to work anyway, but this was a while coming. I'll try not to get the last chapter out super late.**

 **Yeah last chapter. Did I mention this is the second to last chapter?**

 **Anyway, I finally got a switch so it's time for me to enjoy Sonic Forces after owning the game since the day it came out. Of course, when I get my job done :P**

 **And it's time for you to enjoy this chapter! Trust me, big things are gonna be revealed, so stay tuned!)**

* * *

The fountains of Foretune's mansion turned on, bright colorful lights shined as water flowed out. Decorations shined in the sun, reflecting on the floors.

The limo rolled up to the gates, the steel bars moving out of the way to let the car pass.

From inside the limo, Charmy looked out the window with stars in his eyes.

"Vector, Espio, look! This place looks so rich!" He exclaimed.

"Charmy, didja forget we were at Foretune's?" Vector asked.

"I didn't! I just dunno how he got so rich! We should have a place like this, not him!"

"Well, we'll have a place like this when we can first afford more groceries than we usually get," replied Espio.

The limo came to a stop, the men in suits getting out as they held the door open for the Investigation Team. Everyone climbed out, looking at Foretune's mansion.

"Follow me, Mr. Foretune will be down in a minute."

Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Amy, Cream, Vector, Espio, Charmy, Shadow, and Rouge followed the robot in front of them, passing through the large stained glass door as they entered the lobby of the mansion. There was an ice sculpture of Foretune in the middle, complete with various riches.

"This place is incredible… how could someone like him have this much money?" Amy asked.

"Ever since Master Fortune began GamNeg, he has carefully placed stocks into companies he know will be successful," One robot servant replied. "As such, his wealth grew and grew, and now he is one of Mobius' richest men. Now come, we shan't keep the master waiting."

As the Investigation Team followed, Sonic couldn't help but look around. He swore someone, or something was watching him. Remembering the time he and Chip entered a haunted mansion, the blue hedgehog turned his head to see the various paintings of Foretune. Though they appeared normal, part of him still felt he saw the eyes shoot back to face forward.

"Is this place suspicious?" He asked Knuckles. "I mean, we haven't seen any work being done here. This is more like a house tour."

"I get where you're coming from," The red echidna replied.

"Hey, isn't this GamNeg HQ? Why is nobody working here?"

"Don't fret, Mr. Sonic. That's on the third floor," The servant replied.

Vector turned to look at Sonic. He could understand the hedgehog's concern. Something DIDN'T seem right…

But he wouldn't lie… owning a place like this would be something out of a dream. Living his life with Espio and Charmy and having people to do his bidding. He could be so rich; he wouldn't even need to rent out a chapel for a wedding between him and Espio-

 _"Wait, is that too soon,"_ Vector suddenly thought.

Espio looked up at his boyfriend, something on his mind clearly. He knew not to bother after all. They were more concerned with one thing than ever: taking down Foretune.

* * *

As they passed by the golden arches that would lead up to the second floor, a familiar face began to walk down the stars.

"Ah, Sonic and the Investigation Team!" He said, greeting them like they were old friends. "How do you all do? Welcome to GamNeg HQ!"

The Investigation Team got scowls on their face, not wanting to be friendly.

"We get that, Foretune. Now cut the crap, drop the nice act, and shut it! Ya know what we're here for!" Vector exclaimed.

"Ah, it's such a shame you wish to respond with violence. You know Mr. Tails, I was thinking about your offer about a deal to end the Mobius Examineer. It's a very simple deal actually; one I don't think you have any objections to."

"Huh?" Tails turned his head. "Well, what is it?"

"…you know, let us come to my office. We'll discuss there. You can bring your friends too. Servants, please let my guests have some food and drink."

"Very well, Master Foretune." The servants bowed, running off down the stairs.

As Foretune began to climb the stairs, Sonic didn't move.

"Sonic?" Rouge asked.

"I don't trust him…" He replied.

"To think, we finally agree on something," Shadow replied, crossing his arms.

"Well, Mr. Foretune DOES seem friendly now. Besides, if he did want to do something, he would do it now," Cream replied.

"That's just it. He wants to strike us when we're most vulnerable," replied Espio.

"Oh, Tails? Are you coming or not?" Foretune asked from the second floor.

And with that, the team followed the pheasant all the way to his office. They all stood by the GamNeg CEO's desk. Foretune pulled out a deck of cards, shuffling it.

"Do you know why the Joker in a deck of cards exist? It's to tell us that even with so many people in this world; there is always that one individual that just isn't right. Why do you think the Joker is never used playing games such as poker or full house? Its fate is to always be a card that just fills up the box and nothing more. Why do I tell you this? Because I see our relationship as this: you all are playing cards, and I'm the lowly joker. It's someone's turn to make their next move. What will they choose?"

Foretune pulled out a card.

"…will it be a 3 of clubs like this one?"

And then another card.

"…or a king of hearts like this one?"

"Get to the point," Shadow interrupted.

"There's only one way to finish this game: get the ultimate hand. And that's where our deal comes in. There's only one thing I request for the closure of GamNeg for good."

The pheasant lowered his head. "…all I want, is knowledge about the whereabouts of the Chaos Emeralds."

As soon as he said this, the team stopped.

"T-the Chaos Emeralds?! Foretune, you can't be serious!" Sonic exclaimed.

"What do you plan to do with that?!" Knuckles yelled. "If you think we're gonna give you something of such… power just to stop some tabloid!"

"Is that too much to ask? Then perhaps I asked the wrong question. You see, I have connections to certain _high_ powers in the industry. I'm sure they'd love to see it, maybe even settle a price too. After all, aren't SOME of you going through financial crises'?"

"The Chaos Emeralds are not some kind of random jewel. It's a source of great power," Shadow sternly said. "It's something you can't just put a price tag on!"

"Hm… so it is a no?"

Tails looked conflicted. If Foretune had all seven Chaos Emeralds, what COULD he do with it? Did he know the great power sealed within the emeralds truly, or was he really just planning to sell it off?

"Of course not! Anything but the Chaos Emeralds!" Sonic exclaimed.

"Hmm… a shame. Part of me figured you would say no if I made that my prerequisite. Part of me thought of coming up with something different to give me. But if that is the case…"

Foretune reached into his desk.

"…then there's no point to be here, is there?"

The floor from underneath the Investigation Team opened. Without a single second to react, everyone fell down the hole.

* * *

"Is everyone okay?"

"I'm surprised I didn't crack a bone…"

"I think I'm on someone."

"Me, you doof!"

"Oh, sorry Amy."

Everyone gathered their thoughts and surrounding, realizing they were trapped in a cage underground.

"How are we going to get out?" Cream asked. Shadow looked at the bars surrounding the case.

"What's up, Shads?" Sonic asked. The black hedgehog put his arms through the cage, then at Cream.

"Cream…" He said in his usual voice. "I think you're the only one who can get us out of here."

"Hey! I can get out too!" Charmy exclaimed. The bee attempted to go through the bars. While his body got out, the same couldn't be said for his helmet.

"Okay… never mind."

Cream and Shadow turned their attention away from Charmy as they looked back at each other.

"But what should I do and where should I go?" She asked.

"You need to find a key somewhere, this should unlock the cage. If you can, try to find a way to get us back to the main floor so we can find Foretune."

Cream nodded her head. She first let Cheese out, then herself. Though her head did get stuck, with shoves from Vector and Knuckles, it was enough to let her through.

"Good luck, Cream!" Tails said.

The two walked off into the next room as everyone else knew the only thing to do was to wait for Cream and Cheese to come back. Vector and Espio sighed, slumped next to each other.

"I thought we could just defeat Foretune like that…" Espio murmured. "But no… was I too weak? I could have just killed him right there."

"I dun think we should kill Foretune, but… rather make him eat his words," Vector replied. "Besides, the man is a master of manipulation. I dunno how we fall for it…"

"Vector, I'll be honest. Should something happen to Cream and we ARE stuck down here… should we just tell everyone here about ourselves?"

Now that was something Vector never considered. Something awful happening to Cream? Surely she knew how to be careful. After all, Ms. Vanilla knew how to raise her daughter.

But there was that nagging feeling…

"Y'know what? If she dun come back in two hours, we'll tell them."

"What are you two talking about?"

"O-oh… nothing."

Little did the bat know of Vector having his hand on Espio's back.

* * *

Within half an hour, Cream came back with a ring of keys.

"We got it!"

"Nice job, Cream!" Sonic praised. "How did you get that?"

"I thought about how Mr. Shadow did stuff. Like uh… how he defeats enemies or how he um… is sneaky!" She replied.

"O-oh…" Shadow said, a moment of fluster coming towards him. "T-thank you…"

"Awh, is the black edgy hedgehog embarrassed?" Knuckles teased.

"…say another word and soon, feeling embarrassed is an emotion you will COMPLETEY forget."

"Jeez, buzzkill…"

Cream opened the door, allowing the Investigation Team outside.

"Follow me! I was also able to find a way out!"

As the rabbit entered the far left room, the Chaotix were the last to follow behind. Vector and Espio looked at each other.

"Real talk, I kinda hoped we would tell them 'bout us. Guess we're really savin' that until this is all over," Vector said.

"Don't worry, our truth will come soon. For now, let's focus on what should have been our main task," Espio replied.

Leading through the corridors of Foretune's basement floor, everyone could see the dustiness and the age of the building. Wood creaked, water dripped, and the echo of footsteps were audible.

"What's that?" Espio asked, tense.

"Hunh? What is is, Espio?" Vector asked.

"This feeling… I know what it is… an invisible enemy!"

The rest of their friends turned around as robots became visible in sight.

 _"INTRUDER IN THE BASEMENT FLOOR! THE PRISONERS HAVE ESCAPED!"_ They yelled. One came to strike at Vector, who grabbed his fist midway and threw him to the ground.

"We're not takin' yer crap anymore!" He exclaimed.

More and more robots came to attack, intent on stopping the team reaching Foretune. But Sonic and his friends were stronger. Defeating each weak robot and sending them crashing to the ground, a pile of them was left to the corner of the corridor.

"How pathetic…" Shadow said.

"That was too easy!" Knuckles exclaimed.

"Too easy in my opinion…." Amy muttered, setting down her Piko Piko Hammer. "Is that just me?"

"You could be right, but who cares! We're gonna stop Foretune!" Charmy replied.

"I guess you're right…"

Going up the steps, they were stopped by a large, brown wooden door. As Tails turned the knob, an eye appeared on the door.

"AHH!" He yelled, dropping to the ground.

"Hey, that's cool!" Charmy said.

The eye shot out some kind of liquid at the team, causing everyone to side jump out of the way.

"Can't we just torch that door to death?!"

"And have the mansion burn to the ground with us in it?" Espio replied.

"Fair enough."

Charmy positioned his stinger right at the door's eye. The bee shot the stinger out, hitting the cornea of the eye. The door's eye shut, some kind of purple liquid coming out.

"That hurt just seeing…" Amy cringed, holding her eye. Sonic tried the doorknob again, this time, it worked. Leaving the door wide opened, the team exited out of the hallway, and left to the right corridor up the stairs.

* * *

"We're back on the main floor it seems," Shadow noted as the door to the fancy hallway was opened.

"Okay, do any of you remember where Foretune's room was?" Sonic asked.

"Yes, I can vaguely recall," Espio replied.

"Vaguely?! That's not going to do us much good!" Knuckles threw his arms in the air.

"It's better than if we didn't know period. Foretune might try to escape if we just ran around like a chicken with its head cut off," Amy said.

"Enough with the idioms, Amy. We have to stop standing around here doing nothing," Rouge broke the conversation.

"Ms. Rouge is right. Let's go!" Cream said.

Before they left the hallway, various Examineer robots cornered them.

 _"DESTROY INVESTIGATION TEAM… DESTROY INVESTIGATION TEAM…"_ They chanted. One of them fired a barrage of unprinted Examineer copies. Vector, within an instinct, grabbed a large mirror on the wall and began to deflect the publications being thrown at him.

"Take the other ones out and go!" He yelled.

"Vector, no!" Espio replied, distraught.

"I ain't gonna die here. Trust me, I'll follow suit. This is just to make sure ya can find Foretune before he's gone!"

The chameleon wanted to say something, but he bit his tongue. Nodding, he threw a knife at a robot that began to shoot out rays from a gun. Shadow ran up to the robot and kicked him with his shin.

"Vector, we'll be on the second floor!" He said.

"Gotcha!"

The team ran as Vector could feel the mirror close to breaking. Realizing that more and more robots were ganging up on him, the crocodile threw the mirror at the robots and slide to the doorframe on his belly. Seeing some of them knocked down, he quickly got up and ran to the stairs to the next floor.

* * *

All over the mansion, robots' bodies lay on the floor; explosions ruined the various decorations and structure of the building. Glass broke, walls had holes in them, and the smell of something burning lingered through the air.

But if there was one thing the team wasn't going to let go, it was Foretune.

"What the?!" Vector suddenly yelped as he pulled back Sonic. Ceiling broke off and crashed right in front of the reptile and hedgehog.

"Thanks, Vector," The blue hedgehog said. "You were a lifesaver."

"I can only think of one guy who'd do that…" Vector murmured.

Seeing the stairs to the third floor, Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Amy, Cream, Rouge, Shadow, Vector, Espio, and Charmy climbed up. However, this wasn't before a laser shot near Cream. The rabbit girl yelped, clinging close to Rouge as she realized she narrowly avoided death.

"Try this on you robot scum!" Rouge hissed, throwing a nearby piece of pottery at the robot.

"Mr. Omega wouldn't like you saying that," Cream reminded the bat.

"Omega's different, now we don't have time, come on!"

With everyone on the third floor now, Espio took a right as he headed down the hall. Sure enough, in the gold archway with pictures of himself surrounding, and a plaque stating; "CEO, Foretune P. Milliarde", the group had finally reached Foretune's room.

Vector and Knuckles burst down the door, only to see the room was set on fire. Tails coughed, covering his mouth.

"Did he really escape?!" The fox yelled. He looked at the side to see something he never noticed before: a secret entrance in the wall behind Foretune's desk was opened. He ran to the entrance, everyone following behind him.

Upon reaching the secret room, the group could see it was some kind of lab. The walls were a dark turquoise, and bright blue lights filled the room. In the middle, Foretune stood, holding a knife.

"So… ha ha… HA HA… you think you all finally got me, huh?!" He yelled, his mental state clearly in wreck. "This is the grand finale huh? The part where the heroes defeat the villain and the day is saved?"

"We're no heroes. We're doing the right thing," Espio said.

"QUIET! You… you stupid animals… have no idea what kind of CRAP I've been through because of you lot!" Foretune stabbed the ground, the veins on his fists bulging. "The world… the world as we know it, is about to change… your existences are no longer needed! This world has no need for heroes!"

"Is this all you're going to do? Have a tantrum because you couldn't have some emeralds? Face it, Foretune! With all this you're doing, your little tabloid is over!" Rouge pointed at Foretune.

"We WILL make yah pay fer all the crap ya put us through!" Vector yelled.

"ARGH! SHUT UP! GET LOST! GET THE HELL OUT OF MY SIGHT!" Foretune screamed, throwing the knife at the team. Espio dodged out of the way, throwing a ninja star at the CEO.

…who caught it in midair.

"Heh… I can do your little stunts too."

Lighting filled Foretune's hands as he multiplied the stars, shooting them out like a top. Everyone ducked, hoping to not get hurt.

"What is this man?!" Amy questioned. "He's gone bonkers!"

"Bonkers? BONKERS?! I'LL SHOW YOU!"

Foretune shape shifted, his limbs becoming more outstretched. His slammed his fists on the ground, miniature earthquakes rumbling out.

"Watch out, guys!" Sonic yelled, jumping on the pieces of furniture in the room.

Foretune ran up towards Amy, slashing the knife at her multiple times. Though she was able to dodge, the tip ripped a piece of her dress.

"My… my newest dress!" She gasped. The pink hedgehog balled up her fists. "OKAY PAL, YOU'RE GONNA PAY!"

Bringing out her hammer, Amy smashed down only for Foretune to dodge and come behind her. Before he could slice the knife down, Knuckles ran up and punched the pheasant. The knife dropped as Vector made a dive for it.

"You're not… argh! Gonna get away with this!" The echidna yelled, wrestling Foretune down. Suddenly, lights came from the CEO's hands and shot out, slamming Knuckles to the wall.

"I won't need that stupid knife! I'll kill you all with my powers!"

"Why won't you give up, Mr. Foretune! This could have all been avoided if you stopped your magazine!" Cream yelled.

"I can't! I give him… ARGH, WHY DO I BOTHER! YOU ALL ARE GOING TO DIE!"

Foretune sent out another blast of electricity, this time to the floor. Vector, standing on a chair, threw the knife at the pheasant. It stabbed the arm of the pheasant, who yelped in pain.

"You… crocodile named Vector… You DEFINETLY caused me pain… why won't you admit the truth to your friends about your relationship to Espio?!"

Vector jumped back slightly. "Y-yer wrong!" He lied, not wanting his friends to know just yet.

"Then why don't you admit it now?!"

Another lighting blast shot at the crocodile. Shadow suddenly, kicked back the blast at Foretune. As it hit him, Rouge slammed him by the neck with her heels. Tails then proceeded to tie up the CEO.

"Is now the time you finally admit defeat and end the Examineer?" Sonic asked.

"N-never!"

Foretune then broke out of his chains with his powers, grabbing the knife and holding it up to Cream's neck.

"Come any close and I slit the girl's throat! I'm sure her mother wouldn't enjoy having her dead body come back to her in a plastic bag!"

"Damn!" Espio muttered under his breath. "We have to find a way to get Cream back!"

"Leave it to me," Shadow said.

Cream had been crying heavily, the only thing Cheese was doing was hiding behind the rabbit's head.

"What do you want in exchange for her?" Sonic asked.

"Well, since you denied it, I not only want the emeralds, but for you to continue letting me write articles about you lot!" Foretune replied.

"You know what? I think we have the Emeralds with us."

"Wait, Sonic!" Tails said. "You're not!"

"I am. It's the only way we can get Cream back. Shadow?"

The ebony hedgehog handed Sonic the red, blue, green, white, and purple emeralds. "There's a few more," Sonic said. "but this is what we got so far. Now come on, let the girl go. These are more priceless than her."

"Give me the emeralds first!"

"Fine."

Everyone was tense as Sonic handed Foretune the red emerald. The pheasant slowly pushed the rabbit towards the blue hedgehog, Cream running towards Sonic's side.

"Okay, let me get you-"

"CHAOS BLAST!" Shadow yelled, holding the light blue emerald. Foretune was blasted as all of the emeralds fell out of his hand.

"Seriously?! Dang, yeh get me tense!" Vector said, holding his hand to his chest.

Foretune struggled to get up, the light from outside hitting the window behind him.

"Ready to end this?" Knuckles asked Vector.

"On it!" The crocodile grinned. The two power types ran up towards Foretune, and kicked him in the chest. The CEO squawked as he fell back into the window, the glass shattering as he fell three stories down. There was a sharp thud, and nothing else.

"Did… did we just kill him?" Charmy asked.

"He tried to kill us. I think it's in self-defense," Espio replied.

"Uhh, guys?" Vector said. "I think yeh wanna come see this…"

Everyone crowded around the broken to see the sight: Foretune was laying on the ground motionless… only without a head.

"He got decapitated?!" Amy screamed.

"He shouldn't… a fall from this height shouldn't decapitate him," Tails rubbed his chin. "By the way, I don't mean to alarm, but we ARE in a burning building, no?"

The ceiling above them crashed behind them.

"Okay let's check it out," Sonic quickly said. Everyone jumped out of the window to see the sight of Foretune's body. As they all examined it, they noticed… no blood.

Only a jumble of wires.

"Foretune… was a robot…" Vector said.

"How? There's no way a robot could look so realistic…" Sonic said.

"Actually, Sonic, there have been creations by scientists to make more realistic looking robots. My question is: who created him?" Tails replied.

"Who cares? We beat Foretune! And now the HQ is done for! No more Examineer!" Knuckles exclaimed. "Now I can finally get back to Angel Island."

"No no… something about this is off…"

"Again honey, there's no need to stress. It's over now, finally," Rouge added.

The Chaotix looked at each other. Finally, the Examineer was over. The two reptiles looked at each other.

"Do you think we should tell them?" Vector asked. "We did make a promise."

"Tell us what?" Cream asked.

Suddenly, more and more of the mansion crashed down.

"Do you think we should go?" Shadow asked.

"Let's take back Foretune's body. I wanna run some tests," Tails replied.

* * *

 _"We have breaking news tonight. The mansion of Foretune P. Milliarde has burned down in what seems to be a tragic accident. No reported deaths, however the whereabouts of Mr. Milliarde are unknown. Officials believe that Mr. Foretune may have been responsible for the fire. Due to his role as the CEO, it is believed by readers of his tabloid magazine, the Mobius Examineer, that it is over. Many place the blame on Sonic the Hedgehog and his friends, who were last seen entering a limo owned by Mr. Foretune himself. Efforts to reach out to the heroes themselves were unsuccessful, however should they be found guilty, they may face federal charges."_

Vector shook his head. No one came to the Chaotix's door yet…

"I just dun wanna get somethin' on mah criminal record. I avoided THAT in mah teenage years," The crocodile said.

"Well, at least it's over now. Dinner's ready, love," Espio said.

"Nice, what did ya make tonight?"

"Sautéed fish. Thanks for getting the salmon tonight. I know it was kind of a risk with us being wanted."

"Yer welcome. Besides, dinner is gonna be delicious anyway," Vector sat down. "Pass the salt, hun?"

* * *

 **LATER THAT NIGHT**

Tails stayed up well past midnight, trying to find out the truth about what was bugging him. Foretune's exoskeleton was examined, but nothing was found. Interestingly enough, his AI had very advanced programming and his circuitry contained a specific kind of CPU chip that he had never heard of before.

"What's bugging me?" He said. "Who was Foretune really? Where did he come from?"

Then there was his company: GamNeg.

"GamNeg, GamNeg… what is GamNeg really?" Tails tapped his pencil on his desk.

It was odd, he swore he's seen something like GamNeg. A six letter word, two g's…

The two tailed fox looked back at Foretune's body.

Then he remembered Rouge's questioning of Dr. Eggman. And… how there were never any articles about him.

"Foretune said something… I give him? Who's him?"

Eggman… Eggman…

Did… did he really work with Eggman?

Then he looked back at his paper. GamNeg… Eggman…

"Oh no…"

Tails let his pencil drop as his eyes widened. How had he not realized it from the beginning? How could none of them realize this?!

He looked back at Foretune. A robot… with complex creation… Then at the paper again. Finally, the truth was shown:

 _GamNeg is an anagram for Eggman._


	13. Chapter 13 (Finale)

**(AN: Well here we are! Yet another ending to another Vecpio fic! But first, I think it's important we keep all talk until the end, no? See you at the end!)**

* * *

Eggman walked down the hall to his main quarters, seeing a security camera of all the robots he planned to set out.

"All robots are ready, Dr. Eggman!" Cubot said, holding a clipboard.

"And what will you be using for your ultimate weapon this time?" Orbot added. "I have a few choices we can use. Perhaps-"

"Perhaps you can let me CHOOSE for myself!" Eggman angrily replied. He walked to the next room where he kept the start sequences for all his ultimate experiments. He looked at what he had. A ray that shot out shadows… Brainwashing robots…

As he walked down the corridor, Eggman looked to his left to see a black jackal floating in a test tube. Wires and needles were deep in the jackal, and a lone mask was by his side.

"…Nah, I'll save him for another day," The doctor said, rubbing his chin. "Which one should I do? I feel like I do a giant robot of death every week and each time it gets destroyed by Sonic…"

It was then that Eggman noticed a robot made of slime. It was a failed experiment at first, but now that the doctor looked at him…

An evil grin spread on his face as he twiddled his thumbs.

* * *

`Tails buried his hands in his face, taking a deep breath.

"How could we have been… so senile?!" He yelled. "It was all under our noses that Eggman was the true conspirator of GamNeg and that Foretune was just a puppet!..."

"None of us knew, Tails. Dun beat yerself over it," Vector said, crossing his arms. "Still… he got us good…"

"I should have known Egghead was gonna be involved in this somehow! The way he set up Foretune, his denial with associating with GamNeg," Sonic added. "It's just… evil!"

"You expect nothing more out of Eggman, darling," Rouge replied. "How dare I be manipulated though!..."

"So what do we do know?" Knuckles asked.

"Go after Eggman, obviously. Now is the perfect opportunity to do this, and to also clear our names," Espio replied.

Suddenly, a call was reaching Tails' wristwatch. The fox took the call.

"Who is this?" He asked.

"Tails? It's me, Vanilla. Do you have a radio or television at your workshop?" The adult rabbit replied.

"Yeah. I have a TV. Why? Is there something going on?"

"Wasn't the reason you brought Cream to your place was because you found out about the truth of GamNeg, and how Dr. Eggman is related to it?"

Tails froze.

"Charmy, turn on the TV!"

The bee turned on the TV and tuned onto a channel he knew Vector liked. The screen turned to static, and sure enough, on the screen was the logo for the Eggman Empire.

 _"Greetings citizens of Mobius! I am Dr. Eggman, the world's greatest scientist and soon to be your master! Your precious world will soon be ruled by yours truly, and since you all choose to focus on some stupid tabloid, this gives me the perfect opportunity to do so! And I know what you think, you expect Sonic and his friends to come and save the day, right? Well, since you all pushed him away, he's not coming! Ah ha ha ha! Revel in your own stupidity as you essentially got rid of your own hero!"_

The transmission ended. Vector's fists balled up.

"What the hey are we doin' standin' here?!" He yelled. "Eggman's gonna destroy all of Mobius and we're gonna be sittin' ducks!"

"Isn't it ironic that we're protecting the people that are against us?" Shadow asked. "Honestly, I feel like the people had this coming to them."

"Shadow!" Amy yelled. "That's unnecessary! I know the people have treated us bad, but if we don't do anything, then the world is doomed! Eggman will win!"

"And the idea of that makes me shudder," Knuckles said. "Imagine if Eggman really did win…"

"That's why we're gonna stop it!" Sonic added. "Come on guys, time to stop Egghead!"

* * *

After taking the Tornado to Station Square, the Investigation Team could see robots of all shapes, sizes, and creatures attacking the citizens. People screamed as they threw coats, purses, and food at the robots to hopefully make them go away.

"It just seems like an average Eggman attack!" Sonic said. "This should be easy!"

 _"Oh Sonicccc! I know you and your stupid friends are here to save the day!"_ Eggman boomed. _"Well, since you're so obsessed with finding the truth, perhaps you start by watching where you drive your airplane and pay attention!"_

"Huh?" Tails said, clearly distracted. A laser beam hit the rudder of the airplane. Everyone yelped as Cream as was almost thrown out. Vector caught her at the last second.

"Hold on, Cream!" The crocodile said, the rabbit's dress blowing in the wind. Tails attempted to maneuver the plane to the right but was unsuccessful.

"Guys, I think we're gonna have to abandon ship!" The fox said.

"Without any parachutes?! Are you insane?!" Amy replied.

"Did you forget I could fly all of a sudden?" Rouge added. "Here, I've got a plan: Everyone who can fly should fly to the surface and find a way to get all of you guys down without you splattering to the ground."

"Are you sure we can do that, Rouge?" Charmy asked.

"Trust me," Rouge fell out the plane and flapped her wings. Espio turned around to see the rudder was on fire.

"Tails, it won't be long before this plane explodes before it even crashes!" He said.

"I know, I know! We have to trust Rouge!" Tails replied.

From under their seat, Vector and Espio held hands. They hadn't even told their friends, nor did things any normal couple would do. Yet here they were, about to die.

"Vector, I love you so much," The chameleon mouthed.

"I love you too," He mouthed back.

"Okay, we can't stay here any longer. On the count of three, we get out! One, two-"

There was a puff of black smoke that filled the eyes of the Investigation Team. Sonic shut them, and then, felt the heat as he dropped down.

Everyone else followed suit. The tornado fell down onto the ground as an explosion was heard. Realizing they could see, Tails, Charmy, Cream, and Rouge quickly swooped down and gathered their friends to the safety of the ground.

…but it didn't last for long. Robots like motobugs, buzz bombers, and Egg Pawns surrounded the team.

"Time we start the battle of our lives!" Knuckles said, raising up his fists. The robots instantly attacked, but it wasn't enough. The robots were all destroyed in just a matter of a few minutes. With Amy getting the last hit on an Egg Pawn, the pile of metal and wires sat around on the floor.

"Is that it, Eggman?" Sonic asked. "Come on, I know you're hiding like a pansy as usual. Come on out! We have a little thing we wanna offer!"

"And so do I!"

Eggman came floating down on his Eggmobile, Orbot and Cubot by his side.

"So you really were the mastermind behind the Examineer and GamNeg!" Charmy pointed.

"Of course I was! And it took you lot so long to figure it out! I'm surprised how DENSE you all were! Especially when you have detectives, and even yourself, Tails!" Eggman yelled. "And now, to finish what I started, I plan to destroy you all!"

"You and what army? It's just the same robots you send out weekly!" Amy replied.

"Ah ah ah, girly. Let's not get heated now. After all, I knew that reporting about your love for clothes would cause a nerve to strike. I know you don't have all that stuff, but what's better than lying to the mass and having them consume it, then kiss the feet of the fake CEO you make?!"

"You reported on the stuff that you know would tick us off?!" Rouge replied.

"Of course! Sonic marrying Amy, Tails' fear of getting older, Amy having people tell her she's addicted to clothes shopping, Knuckles and Rouge worried that people find them enjoying unhealthy eating habits, Shadow being emotional instead of having this 'edgy' persona, and most importantly, Vector and Espio being called a couple! All this stuff I learned with my robots, and soon, created a new company that would become GamNeg!"

"I couldn't care less! You WILL pay for all this unnecessary nonsense, Doctor!" Shadow yelled.

"Oh yeah? Well, I have myself a little friend you would like to play with! Orbot, Cubot, send out the Masquereen!"

"Right away, sir!" Orbot said. The two robots pressed a button at the same time as a strange slime creature popped out from the Eggmobile.

"I think I'll enjoy the ride from above! In the meantime, get ready to enjoy the finale!"

"Wait a minute, you!"

Sonic ran up towards Eggman, ready to knock him down. But a strong force grabbed him and slammed him to the ground.

"Sonic!" Tails yelled as everyone ran up to him.

The creature had a very large hand coming out of the slime. Suddenly, it began to transform into a person.

"What the-?!" Espio said. "What is this?"

The person it transformed into was Sonic. Suddenly, bits and pieces of the Sonic clone tore off as it grew into other people. Tails, then Knuckles, then Amy, then Vector, then Espio, then Charmy, then Cream, then Shadow, and finally, Rouge.

"You all are so obsessed with finding the truth, why don't I create a façade for you?" Eggman said.

"You think we're gonna be stopped, we have the emeralds-"

Long, slimy arms shot out as the Chaos Emeralds were taken from the hands and pockets of everyone. The slimy clones brought them up to Dr. Eggman.

"You were saying? And now, it's time that we defeat you! Chaos Emeralds, power up my minions!"

The seven emeralds spun around the clones as a faint yellow glow surrounded them. In just an instant, the Vector clone zipped towards Espio and kicked him right in the chest. As everyone turned around, worried about Espio, they were all caught off guard by the clones and brought to the ground as well. The clones beat and beat everyone, taking turns between hurting the team themselves. Eggman laughed sadistically.

"Finally, could the plan I have finally work? Could I finally walk out victorious?! Attack them until they can barely hold themselves up!"

The clones nodded as they made their move. Clone Sonic spun dash right into Rouge, Clone Tails attacked Vector with his Tails, Clone Knuckles beat up his real self, Clone Amy smashed Charmy with her hammer, Clone Vector body slammed Shadow, Clone Espio shot out ninja stars at the speed of light as Sonic, Clone Charmy stung Cream, Clone Cream attacked Amy with her version of Cheese, and Clone Shadow and Rouge worked together to attack everyone and make the last minute hit.

"Why… why can't I move?..." Sonic groaned, his head hurting and blood pouring from his mouth.

"Something's… stopping us…"

Everyone collapsed onto the ground, unable to get up from the pain.

"At last! Now, it's time for the final blow! Clones, fuse!"

The clones nodded as they all stood shoulder by shoulder. Melting onto the ground, the slime fused together as it stretched from front to back, side to side. A giant sphere formed, growing long and strong limbs. Tentacles grew from below the sphere, smashing onto the ground. The sphere began to grow with color, bright reds and purples. An eye opened in the middle, bloodshot and veiny.

"Arise!"

"Dr. Eggman, doesn't this thing seem a little… oh, not threatening?" Orbot asked.

"Would you care to be the experiment for my new creation to make sure it destroys everything it sees?"

Orbot retreated to his seat.

The limbed eyeball finally formed, a very faint breathing sound was heard.

"Make your first move!"

The tentacles of the creature slammed onto the ground, causing everyone to fly into the air. The pupils of the eyes looked up, shooting out a dark beam.

"Why… why can't we attack?!" Sonic yelled.

"I know! It's like… mah body won't let me!" Vector replied.

"That is the effect of my new robot! Who even dares to harm the person they copy will only find themselves unable to attack!"

"That's low, Eggman! Why don't you play fair?!" Amy yelled.

"And have you all win?! Never! Attack my mi-"

Before Eggman could reply, the eyeball grabbed the Eggmobile. The doctor yelped.

"W-wait! What are you doing?! I'm your master! How dare you disobey me?!" Eggman yelled.

The eyeball opened its pupil to reveal a realistic mouth with sharp teeth. Eggman started to freak out, and the part of the Eggmobile that held Orbot and Cubot shot off into the sky.

"ORBOT! CUBOT! YOU TRAITORS!"

"I'm so sorry, Dr. Eggman! We just don't taste so good! D-don't worry! We'll be committing evil in your place!" Orbot said.

"I'll even make sure to keep your secret stuffed penguin collection behind the portrait of yourself!" Cubot added.

"NOW HOW DARE YOU MENTION THAT IN FRONT OF SONIC AND HIS FRIENDS WHILE I'M ABOUT TO BE EATEN!"

The eyeball chomped down as Eggman screamed. Sonic and his friends took a step back.

"That thing didn't kill Eggman, did it?" Espio asked.

The eye reverted back to normal as it had a new glimmer in its eye.

 _"_ _Th̴e͡ D͏r.͢ ͡Egg͏m̧an yo͞u͜ ̵kno҉w̕ ̧is ͘sti̧ll ̴a͘l̴ive̢. ҉On̨ly ̛in͘ mìn̢d̨.̶.͞."_ A distorted voice said.

"What the? Is that the creature?!" Shadow asked.

 _"I̡'ve ̨s̸éen̨ t̵hé d͠o̕ct̶or͘s ̢f̶ai̵lur͜e̵s̷,̧ ̀h͢ìs ̀c̨o̢n͡s̸t̡ànt͘ ͜ob͝s̀es̴si͡o̵n̶ ̵ẃítḩ w̸anting ͠t̀ò de̕str͡o͟y͘ Soni̡ç ͞t͝he͡ Hedge͠ho͠g͞ t͡h̀is̸, ́or get ̶th͝e ̀C̷h̀a̴os ̵Em̕eŗal͝ds..̀.҉ ́Now͏ t̢hat ͏I h̸a̷ve h̕is mind,̨ a̷n̸d̀ ͜th̴e͢ st͘ren̶g͟th̛ ̕of̕ ͘ţh͘e̡ ́s͟e͝ve̕n E͘m͝ȩral̀d͜s̷, I҉ c͟a͘n ͝f̵in͞a͜l͏ly p̕urg̕é ͟t́hìs͏ worl͟d͡!̧"_

"And that's where the Examineer comes in?" Rouge asked.

 _"T̛he ̕do̡ćto͡ŕ ̸k̢n͜ew̢ ͠the̴ oǹl̵y̴ ͜w̕a̵y ̶tǫ d͜e͡fȩàt Sonic̀ was̷ ͏ńot t͏o͜ ͜e̶nga͏ge̷ hi͝m̷ ͠ph̢y͢sic̵ally,̷ ͡b͠ut͝ ́em͞otio̸n̴ally,̢ men̶t̵a͢l͘l̕y, ͟a͝nd ̸şp͠i̛ritually.͞ Th̷at̡'s̴ ̸w̛hỳ h̵e͜ ͢sa͢id҉ ̨h̶e̛ made ͝t́hos͡e ar̷ti̵cl̀es͏ t͝o͢ ͜fur̀ther ͘an͞n̢oy͢ ̨y͞o͟u ̧a͘n͝d ̨make ̷t̷he p̶eop̸l̀e̛ y͘ou ͏p̛ro̶tect ͝go͜ ag̸a̵i͜ns͡t̷ ͜yo͘u͏. D̸o͟ y͟ou s͡t̢i̷ll ̷w̸ant t͘o ͝p̧r̸ot͡ec̸t̷ ̴t̴hǫs̀e foolis̛h m̛o͡b́ia͢n͏s? ̀N̵ow ̛is th̴e c͢h͟an͞çe͠ ̢҉ c͡an ̴ge̴t ̵y̢ou͟ ̛r̷éve̶n͠ge̢!͝"_

"Hell no we aren't! We're not doin' that cause they've been manipulated by yeh! We made our group to find one thing: the truth! And finally, we found the truth of the situation at hand, and it's a truth that only we can show to the people!" Vector yelled. "I'd say yeh better give up now, yeh have no chance to defeat us!"

 _"Fi̶ne! ̀I'v͟ę h͡a͏d i̴t ̀wit̷h̡ ͜r͢e͠a̧s̢on̛i̷ng̵ wi͘th͏ ͡you al̵l.͠ ̶T͟h̡a̧nks ̀to ͟m͢y n̕ew p͏ow̢e͞r̵s͟,̡ ͜I ̷c̡an͘ ̀f̨inal̀l͞y̛ beg͡in͟ ͢m̵ý ͘d̸estru̢c͟tiǫn o͠f Sţa̶t̀ion̡ ́S͘q͞uare! ̴Sta͢r͠ti͠n͠g ́with des͟tr̷oying̴ t̶h̛e ͞hęr̛oe͢s͢ w͡ho͠ k͡no̕w̷ ńot͝h̕i̢n͝g b͢u̕t gett͏i͞ng ̷ìn MY͘ ͞W͢A̴Y̛!͠"_

The eyeball began to charge up some kind of beam, shooting it straight from his pupil. Everyone was overcome by the beam, flying backwards onto the ground.

 _"Do yo͠u ́s͟e̡e͏?"_ The creature asked before transforming, the iris of the eye shooting out like a snake. _"Y̡ou͜ ̧can̢not́ ̀def̴eat̛ ̴m̴e!̷ ͢Y͘o͡u ͟canņo͜t f͏in͘d ͝t̢ŗu̧ţh͢! T̵h͠is i͜s̶ ẃh͘y ļiv͝i̢ng ͜iń ̡a͟ ͝wor͘ld ͝fil̵le͞d̡ wi̢t̡h͏ ͏l͡íes̵,͟ ̵b̧lind́ly̛ ͝b̶e͢lieving ͟a̵ny̸t͟hi͠ng͘ we co͘ns̶ume,̵ is̀ a múch̷ be̛tt̀e̵r ͢w̷o͝r̡ld! B̛ecau͏se̕ tr̛u͏t͝h͟ ki̷l͠ls͡. Tru̷th҉ ͠wi̸l̢l be t͞he͏ v́i̢rtue͡ ̴t͏ḩa̵t͢ ̧k̷ills ͞t͠h̷is ͝worl̢d!̢ ҉A̵n̸d͟ n̡ow, ̴Soǹi̡c̷ ̀thè ͘Heḑge͢h̸o͜g ̧an͢d́ hìs ̡fo͝ol̸is͢h ̢fr͞i̕ends! Pr͢e̢pa͟r̷e fo̷r de͜a̡t͘h͞!̛"_

Vector braced himself. He quickly looked to the left to see Espio by his shoulder. The two reptiles could only look at each other before they held hands: ready to accept their fate.

That is, until citizens started to come out of their hiding places.

"Sonic…"

"Everyone…"

"We're so sorry!"

"We pushed you all away!"

"And now… Dr. Eggman will finally get what he wants!"

"Sonic! Tails! Knuckles! Amy! Vector! Espio! Charmy! Cream! Shadow! Rouge! You got this!"

"You can do it, Sonic!"

"You've got this!"

 _"Śh͡ut up̛ yo̧u ҉f͞oǫls! Yơu a̶ll͠ ́s̵pea̴k͝ o͏ut͢ ҉of l̛íne͟! ̕D̶o͠n't try̨ ̢to ac͝t͠ ̡a̡l͡l ̢f͜ri̧e͝ndl͘y ̕becaús̕e yo͢u̧ mig̷ht҉ di̶e͝ b͡y ḿy͞ h̵a̴nd!͡ So͏n͜i͝c w͜o͟ul͟dn'͜t̷ ̢h̸elp y͏ou͏ ̴a͏ll f͟o͢r͝ ͡not̨hing͢!̡"́_

"Yes… I would…" The blue blur said, legs wobbling from the pain. "At the end of the day, I'd rather have these people hate me then have them enslaved by Eggman!"

 _"You̶ ̧ha̷v̢e ͏a͟ ͟p͢òs͏it̸i̵ve ͝o̸u͘t͝l̀ǫok ͏f͞o͝r ̶some̸one ͜l͠ik̴e y͝ou. B́u͡t͡ t̢hąt ҉w̢on'͠t͡ d̀o ͞a͞ny͏t͠hing ̡t͟o me!̷ M̀y̧ ̕pla̷ń ҉wil̀l ͞s̷t̸i̴ll ha̵p͢p̸en̷, ͝whe͟t͠h̕e͝r ҉you'̸re͟ st́il̡ĺ a͢li͜vè ͝or not!̢"_

"Not if I can help it!" Sonic ran towards the creature, quickly dodging the tentacles as they all shot at him. Before one could hit Sonic, he jumped on the very tip and jumped into the air, kicking the creature right in the pupil. Immediately, the creature made a scream of pain as the seven Chaos Emeralds popped out from the top of creature.

"Now Sonic!" Shadow said, arm reached out.

Grabbing the seven emeralds, Sonic stood fiercely behind his friends. The emeralds spun around the blue blur, a familiar warmth spreading through him. The jewels struck into him, and a blight flash of yellow light filled everyone's eyes. When everyone's visibility was clearer, they could see Sonic floating in the air in super form.

 _"S̵o,͟ the ͝h̀e̷dgèhog͞ ís ̷noẁ ͘i̕n h̛i͠s̀ sup̛e̸r̢ f͝or͘m͏?̡ Y͟ou̢ ̨t͟h͜i͏n̡k̶ ̛yo͡u͞ h͘av̛e̕ ̵gùa͝r̵an̸t͝ee̷d ́su͢c͘c̸éss͏ ͟b̢ec͏aus͏e y̨óu͜ ͝ḩavę t̶he eme̵ral̴ds? Yo͘u͠ cơul͘dn͞'t̢ ͝b̀e an͝y mor̨è ͝of a f̸o͢o͏l͜! T͠h͜e e̵me̛ra̧l̵d͞s̀' ̡power ̸i̕s ͜st̛il̴l ẁithin ͝me!"_ The eyeball said.

Suddenly, the rest of Sonic's friends who lay on the floor got up. Shadow himself felt a super transformation close as everyone else felt a protective aura around them.

"This… this is the end!" The black hedgehog said before completing his super transformation.

 _"̛H̷o̶w?!͏ ͞Yo͜u͠r f͝o̸olis̷h͝ fr̨iends ̶to̢o͞?! Ver̢y͟ ̛w͝ell̶. ̴Ro̵bot ̧m̨i͝ni̷ons! A̸b̵sor͏b int͞o͏ m͟e so I ̴can͠ ́rea͟c̡h҉ ́m͞y final̨ ̶fo͢rm̶!"_

All the remaining robots that the Investigation Team flew over to the eyeball creature, flying themselves into it. With each robot meant the eyeball became more and more humanoid and robotic. With one final motobug, the creature stood taller than before, staring down the super transformed group.

 _"D̸̛̕o ͞you͏ ͏sȩe̡̨ w͞h̡͘ą̷t̨ I҉̷'̶v̷̧͡e̷̛ ̛͟b̸e̷ç͜o̸me? I͘ ͢a̵m͢ ͠͏̵ţ̴̨h͟͠e̷ n͠e̡w͝ ̴̡̛b̸̸e͏̶͏i̧͡ng͜ ̢ó̵f͟ ͟͟pó̷̧w͜͞e̷͟r͘͜ ̀i̸̡͞ǹ͢ ̀t̀̕͡h͏̛i̶̧͠s̨͠ ̢w̷̨ơ͞͞r̛l̕d.̶̢ Ý̸͜ou̧͜ ͘ca̡̛n̶̴ c̶àĺ͞͞l̢͝ me̶͞ ͠R͟͠o͏b̢͢͠o ͘A͠b̡͡y̨̛͠s̨s̶̴͢.͟͞.̸҉.̴̵"_

"Robo Abyss huh?" Sonic smirked. "This isn't gonna be a challenge!"

Super Sonic struck first as Robo Abyss took a step back. Super Shadow then struck one of the arms taking off its hand.

 _"D̸̢́o͏ ͏ý̡óu ̶͟t̛͠͞hink͜͠ y̡o̢u͘͟ ̡͟h̵ą̀͘v̕͜͠e͠͠ ͘w͞͠o̴n̴̕̕?̨͜!͝ ̷Ś̷̶e̕e͢͟ ̀my҉͢ ̵ul̴͢t̕ì̴͜m̴̨̡a̵t̵͟͝ȩ̷͢ ̛pơ͝ẁ̴er̢!̷̶!͝"_

Tentacles grew out from the underside of the Robo Abyss, grabbing Sonic and Shadow midflight. It was then that the rest of the group attacked. Espio attacked one of the tentacles by throwing a kunai at it. Blood gushed out as it started to wriggle. Vector started to beat at the tentacle, punching it and only ripping it more and more. When he could see started to gush out more, one tentacle tried to swipe at him.

"Watch out, Vector!" Charmy yelled, shooting a fast and yellow stinger at the tentacle about to grab the crocodile. Seeing this to be his only chance, the green reptile bit down and ripped the tentacle out with his powerful jaws. Green blood oozed out as Vector let the tentacle go.

"This power… I've never felt anythin' like this!" He said, noticing his arms appearing stronger.

"It must be the power of the emeralds," Espio said, dueling the tentacle holding Shadow. "Hun, let's do this together. Rip it out when I'm done!"

Vector grinned as Espio stabbed the kunai into the tentacle, trying to slice through it. Horrible squishing noises were heard. Though the power of the emeralds gave him greater strength, it took the two reptiles to hold down the tentacle. Sonic at the same time, was trying to get free.

"J-just a little more, guys!" He yelled, trying to use super blasts to free himself. "Ah! Guys! Behind you!"

Robo Abyss shot out a missile and was heading right to the direction of the two reptiles. With just a few seconds to act, the two stopped focusing on removing the tentacle and stared at it.

"Espio, I'm gonnna need yeh to trust me! Kick the missile!" Vector exclaimed. The chameleon nodded as the crocodile held him bridal style. Just as the missile was about to hit, the crocodile spun around, allowing the fuchsia reptile to kick. The missile soon went the other way, and Amy was able to hit it up at Robo Abyss. As it screamed, it let go out both Super Sonic and Shadow, and Vector was able to rip out the tentacle he and Espio were working on with his jaws.

 _ **"F́OÓ̢͞L͞͞S̴̨͏! F͢O̧͟Ò̀L̸S̶̀ ̵̛͞FO͘O̡ĻS͢ ̴F̶̨̀O͠͏O̡̡͘L̶͟S!̕!̨ ̷̨̀W̡͏H͠͞Ỳ̶͟ ̶̕W̷͘͝O̴̧N͝'T̛͘͜ ́Y̨OÚ̸̢ ̷D̸͢IE?!̷ VE͘͏R̸͘Y͡ ̴̀W̡͘ELL͡͞,̵ ͜͝U̕͞L̴͏T̵͡I̕͠MA͏̡TE̴͡ D̀E̢͞F̛ÈN̸S͏E F̛͜I̸̢̧É̶̀L̢D̵͜ ͏A̸͝͞C͏TI̸͘V̴A̷͏̕TÈ!͢͠!͘͘͡"** _Robo Abyss yelled. It set up a defensive shield as the body of the monster turned blue. Super Sonic and Shadow attempted again and again to destroy the shield, but were unsuccessful.

"How are we going to destroy this?!" Rouge questioned, flapping her wings.

"There's only one thing we can do. This may exhaust our powers, but we have to attack at the same time. Me and Shadow will do a Super Sonic Boost while you guys shoot out the Super Sonic Beam!" Sonic replied. "That should be the only thing to destroy the field!"

Before anyone could reply, Robo Abyss began to charge up a beam. More missiles were shot out, quickly coming towards them.

"Yo, I don't think we have too much time!" Knuckles said.

"You think we don't know that?" Shadow replied. "Sonic, now!"

The two hedgehogs advanced forwards faster than light. The speed destroying the missiles right before they hit. As the two hit the field, Amy pulled out a tarot card deck from her dress.

"May the 21 cards of the Major Arcana give us the strength to help our friends!" She said before the cards levitated in front of the group. Concentrating their power, Tails, Knuckles, Amy, Cream, Vector, Espio, Charmy, and Rouge held out their palms as a sharp noise sounded. A blinding beam shot forward, hitting Robo Abyss. The creature screamed as its force field was destroyed. In a last minute attempt, it tried to punch Sonic and Shadow. But the two hedgehogs fought back, zipping through all the metal of the arms and finally, striking the iris of the eye. A large gaping hole was visible as the metal of the creature crumbled.

It moved erratically, concrete and asphalt cracking and bouncing in the air. Bits and pieces of the creature melted and burned like fire as it screamed, showing its burned eye to the team. Before it could reach its melting hands at the Investigation Team, it crashed to the ground and melted into a puddle of burned ash. The only thing that was left was Dr. Eggman himself, passed out. Everyone felt faint as the emeralds shot out from the team, travelling far away.

"It's… over…" Sonic breathed.

Cream collapsed to the ground. "I can't believe it… we're finally done with this case…"

The Chaotix took a breather. Right there, the crocodile wanted to kiss the chameleon as long as possible. But… there was stuff one matter to attend to.

Shadow and Rouge looked down at the passed out doctor. "So, what should we do about him?" The bat asked.

"Well, let's not kick his butt," Knuckles said. "Instead, I got a new idea as to how we can go about this."

"Really?" Tails asked. "Well, go on. What's your plan?"

* * *

The next day, while cleanups of Station Square were going on, Orbot and Cubot were passing out a new issue of the Mobius Examineer.

"Get your final issue of the Mobius Examineer! It's here and only here! Last issue!"

The front cover of the final issue was a picture of a guilty looking yet grinning Eggman and text reading: _"Dr. Eggman comes out with the truth! Mobius Examineer was a fraud to attack Sonic and his friends!"_

 _"Though the Mobius Examineer has seen excellent success through the work of its fake robot CEO, Foretune P. Milliarde, the truth comes out: Dr. Eggman was the true mastermind of the Mobius Examineer._

 _"It's true…" He reported. "The Examineer's true purpose was to destroy Sonic and his friends' credibility. I would have gotten away with it too thanks to Foretune's ability to pose as a real person, if it weren't for my incompetence."_

 _When asked about the incident involving yesterday's monster, the "Robo Abyss", Dr. Eggman confirmed it was created by him, but couldn't describe much more detail due to being consumed by the robot in question._

 _As we finish this article, the Mobius Examineer is finally over. No longer shall we stand for fake news posing as the truth. And with this, we would like to remind you if you hear something that might not be true, fact check. It's better to learn the truth for yourself than continue to live in a falsehood of lies._

 _-The Investigation Team"_

* * *

Though they were pardoned by their citizens of Mobius and officials for their accomplishments, Sonic and his friends wanted nothing more than to just let the case go and continue life. However, that didn't stop them from celebrating that afternoon at the park.

"Wow, it's finally over…" Espio commented. "This has been the longest… almost month it's been. I'm ready to continue life be like how it was."

"I'll say. By the way Ms. Vanilla, thanks for the sweets you baked. They're delicious," Sonic said, putting a cupcake in his mouth.

"Thank you, Sonic. It's the least I could do for my daughter and the rest of you all for destroying that worthless magazine. Now finally Cream and I can sleep in peace," Vanilla replied, holding her chest.

Vector tapped Espio's shoulder as the chameleon took a sip of water.

"Hey, it's over now. Yeh ready?" He said.

"As we can be."

"So uh, guys? There's… uh, somethin' we need to tell ya," Vector said as everyone directed their attention to the Chaotix.

"What is it?" Amy asked.

"Well uh… I know the Examineer has made complete bull claims about us… but… what if I told you that… only one article it wrote was true?"

"One article? Which one?" Tails asked.

"It's um…" Espio said. "I just… I wish I could say it… without feeling embarrassed…"

"It was the article about…"

"Yes?..." Knuckles said. Vector suddenly sucked his teeth.

"Ugh, what I'm gettin' at is that me 'n Espio are datin'!" Vector yelled.

"You… what?" Rouge said.

"Y-yeah… Espio and I really ARE a couple."

"So you've been lying to us?" Sonic asked.

"No no! It's something we realized as this case went on. It's just… we wanted to tell you, but I know the Examineer would have had a field day had they known the truth and it got to them. So yeah, Espio and I are in love."

The blue hedgehog shook his head. "I mean, you do you, Vector. I'm sure you were afraid to tell us, but you've got nothing to worry about now."

"Yeah!" Amy said. "You're perfectly free to love each other!"

"And there's nothing to be ashamed of, boys," Vanilla piped up. "I'm just glad you came to us with the truth."

"And besides, Charmy could use some new parents," Knuckles added.

"Parents? I mean, I guess Vector and Espio are my mom and dad!" Charmy said.

Everyone (sans Shadow) chuckled as the party continued, the two reptiles finally feeling at ease knowing they could tell the truth. Espio had his head on Vector's arm, grabbing his hand and playing it.

"Maybe now we could finally act like a true couple…" The chameleon said.

"I'd like nothin' more," Vector added, rubbing Espio's sides.

* * *

 **MEANWHILE…**

Eggman smashed his hand into his desk.

"AUGH! That Sonic ruins each and every little thing I make!" He yelled. "Maybe now is the time…"

"Time? Oh, Dr. Eggman! I think you haven't taken your relaxant pills yet-!"

"ENOUGH! I DON'T HAVE THE TIME FOR SUCH THINGS!"

Eggman stomped down his hall and entered his room, the same room containing the Robo Abyss. Something… ANYTHING had to be there.

Then, he saw the jackal.

The doctor got a grin on his face.

Now… it was time for his new creation to be unleashed.

 _Infinite…_

 **THE END**

* * *

 **(AN 2: And so, we reach the end! Thanks to everyone for sticking around for this fic too! I know I was a lot more** **sporadic** **with my updates, being annoying in the ANs about my life, but that's over for now. I'm just glad I got this done.**

 **One thing I will talk about this fic was that I was originally intending this fic to be based on Sonic Forces.** **Unfortunately** **, when it began, Forces still hadn't come out. Even now I haven't played it (gotta wait for my HDMI splitter!) and so with this last chapter, I kinda wanted to tie it in with Forces by adding the Infinite references. Does this mean there'll be a sequel?**

 **No, mainly because this implies that Forces took place after the events of this fic. So no sequel, sorry.**

 **So what's next?**

 **Whew boy, that's an issue there. See, I was already having trouble coming up with ideas when this fic came around. Now a new one? That'll be hard. I'll see from here, but I think I'll move onto other fandoms (which I say I will but never do, eh?)**

 **Either way, thanks for enjoying, and who knows? Maybe another Vecpio from me will come around.**

 **See you until then!**

 **-TheHunterPersian)**


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